


Camera Flashes & Magazine Covers

by teeandrainbows



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Background Relationships, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Everyone Is Alive, F/M, Fluff, Inspired by StarStruck (2010), Meet-Cute, Minor Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), POV Alternating, meet ugly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:00:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 31,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28511559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teeandrainbows/pseuds/teeandrainbows
Summary: During a trip to Hollywood for a music competition, Julie meets rock star Luke Patterson, completely by chance.  After spending time with him, she starts to realize he might not be the jerk she thinks he is, until an interview changes all of that.Luke has the chance of a lifetime, to land a movie deal, but there's one catch - he needs to stay out of the tabloids.  Meeting Julie Molina, the one person in the world who isn't obsessed with him, complicates things.A Juke AU based on the 2010 Disney Channel Original MovieStarstruck
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 76
Kudos: 212





	1. Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to the Starstruck Juke AU I knew I had to write! This won't be a complete carbon copy of the Starstruck plot, as I had to make some adjustments with the characters, but just as a frame of reference:
> 
> Julie = Jessica Olson  
> Luke = Christopher Wilde  
> Alex & Reggie = Stubby (with Alex picking up small traces of Christopher too)  
> Willie = a nicer Alexis Bender  
> Carrie = Sara Olson  
> Flynn = a nicer Sara Olson in the final act  
> Victoria = the grandmother  
> Trevor = the band manager  
> Caleb = the movie director  
> Mrs Harrison = the parents
> 
> The title comes from the title song on the movie soundtrack!
> 
> Finally, this will be posted in 4 parts!
> 
> Check out my [tumblr](https://reggieshamster.tumblr.com/)

The rest of the girls were all gathered around Carrie, squealing about that stupid band they all obsessed over. Apparently the band had performed last night and someone had uploaded one of their most popular songs to Youtube, and the girls were all watching it. Julie, on the other hand, sat back in her chair, sipping hot chocolate and staring out the giant window at the planes coming in and out of the airport.

One of the girls had apparently pulled up a gossip blog and was sharing paparazzi photos with the rest of them.

“They apparently went to Under-21 after the show last night, and they were wearing the same outfits!” she squealed, practically kissing what Julie guessed was a photo on her phone. She had to fight the urge to vomit. “They met up with Alex’s boyfriend and everything! Look!”

One of the other girls actually swooned. “Luke looks so hot in that tank top!”

“I can’t believe we might actually run into Sunset Curve!” Carrie said, much to the glee of the rest of the girls. “Who has the band book?”

Julie glanced over, watching as one of the girls produced a large scrapbook. If she remembered correctly, the book contained everything Carrie and her posse had gathered from interviews, livestreams, press releases, and wherever else they could find information about Sunset Curve - where they worked, ate, surfed, and partied, among other things.

“You know, that could be considered stalking,” she commented drily.

The excited babbling died down and Carrie looked directly at Julie, folding her arms in front of her. “It’s called being a fan,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Not that you would know, or care.”

Julie rolled her eyes back, leaning back in her spot with a huff. It was going to be a long four days in Hollywood, at this rate. The music program at her school in Kalamazoo, Michigan had earned a spot at a prestigious competition in Hollywood, and after auditions nearly four months ago, it was finally time for the trip. Julie only wished her best friend had auditioned, too. It would have been nice to have Flynn around as a buffer. Once upon a time, she and Carrie had been friends, but now? She was lucky if the other girl gave her the light of day, and now she had to survive two plane rides and four days with her and the rest of Dirti Candy. If only the school had chosen one more performer to come with them.

If only Mrs Harrison had allowed Julie to drop out and give her spot to someone else.

Her mom had died two weeks after the auditions in a car accident, and when the list was posted, with Dirti Candy and Julie the only names on the list, she had begged her teacher to give her spot to someone else. Mrs Harrison had refused, though, and urged her to keep working towards it. Flynn had been the most helpful, though, supporting her through the next three months and even coming to the airport with Julie and seeing her through security.

But now, Julie had to survive the next few days on her own. All she had was Mrs Harrison, Carrie, and Carrie’s posse.

And her Tia, of course, waiting for her in Hollywood. It had been the only reason her father had agreed to let her go.

“Do you think they’ll meet us at the airport?”

Julie scoffed, glancing back over at Carrie and her girls. To her credit, Carrie looked about as annoyed at the girl as Julie felt.

“I mean, you are a co-founder of their fanclub,” another girl chimed in.

Carrie noticed Julie watching at that moment and shot her a glare before rounding on the girls.

“Luke, Reggie and Alex have better things to do with their time. And, if you look in the book, you’ll notice that when our plane lands, they’ll be in a meeting with their manager, anyway. God, it’s like I have to do everything for you girls,” she hissed.

Julie fought a snort, rising to her feet as an announcement came over the airport PA system that their flight was boarding. Mrs Harrison ushered the girls onto the plane, and Julie lucked out with a window seat and one of the quieter girls next to her. At least she had a couple of hours of solace before the rush of Hollywood. Before she could put on her headphones, though, and listen to some of the music her mom had shared with her, the girl sitting next to her had started humming a song Julie immediately recognized as a Sunset Curve song.

She scowled.

= = = = =

Luke clapped his two bandmates and best friends on the back as they walked in. The show the previous night had been a raging success, having sold out in hours. The crowd had been packed, the energy had been electric, and the music had been on fire.

“Dude, we killed it!” he exclaimed, pressing the elevator button. Their manager had called them in for an afternoon meeting, although Luke didn’t know if he had the patience for a business meeting. When Trevor called, though, they listened. Sunset Curve would have never had the success it did without his help.

Alex elbowed Luke, beaming. “You guys were amazing. Did you see the way those girls were looking at you?”

“Did  _ you _ see the way  _ Willie _ was looking at  _ you _ ?” Reggie chimed in, moving behind Luke to hang on Alex’s shoulder.

Luke laughed as Alex’s face went pink. It was a newer relationship, and he was just glad Alex was happy. Willie seemed like a great guy, and that was good enough for him and Reggie.

“Yeah, man, own your awesomeness too,” he said, beaming at his friend.

The elevator arrived and the three boys stepped on, heading up to Trevor’s office. When they stepped in, their manager was on his feet, clapping slowly.

“There’s my favourite boys! I knew I had a winner when I took a gamble on you three,” he said, gesturing for them to sit. In unison, Luke and his friends flopped down on the sofa in the room, beaming at Trevor.

“It felt so good to be up there on that stage,” Luke said, leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees.

“Yeah!” Alex agreed, leaning back on the sofa. “And it’s only gonna get better when we go on tour!”

Trevor leaned back against his desk, grinning at the three of them. “10 countries, 20 cities. You boys are going to have the tour of the decade,” he said, pride written in his expression. “You think you’re famous now? Just wait until the tour’s done.”

Luke sighed, imagining it. Girls hanging off of him, begging for his autograph. Walking into a packed venue with his boys, selling merch, and above all, making killer music for the world to enjoy. That’s what it was all about. Music. If he wasn’t creating music, he didn’t know what he would do.

At a glance sideways, he could tell Reggie was just as enamoured as he was with the idea. Alex was now leaning forward in interest, clearly imagining the height of their fame.

Trevor clapped his hands, breaking the spell. “Now, business.” Luke and the others jumped to attention. “Don’t forget about the party tomorrow night; some of your sponsors for the tour will be there. And please remember to try and stay out of the tabloids. It’s not good for your image.”

The last comment was directed towards Luke, and he shifted awkwardly in his seat. For some reason, the paparazzi loved him specifically, and always seemed to know where he was. It made him extremely uncomfortable, but, as Alex liked to remind him, it was part of their life now. He just had to be more careful.

Trevor continued to talk to them about money and marketing, all things the boys left to him to take care of (music was the only thing they needed to worry about, in his words), and by the end of the meeting, Luke was yawning.

“Is that everything?” Alex asked, his arms crossed in front of him. On Luke’s other side, Reggie seemed to be in a daze, and he clapped his hand on the other boy’s thigh to wake him up.

“That’s everything from me. You’re free to go do whatever you want, as long as it doesn’t involve the paparazzi,” Trevor said, nodding.

They got up almost in unison to walk out when Trevor spoke again. “Oh, Luke? Could you stay back for a few minutes? I wanted to talk to you about something.”

Luke hesitated. Sunset Curve was typically a package deal; it wasn’t often that one of them was singled out. He exchanged quick glances with Reggie and Alex before turning back.

“Yeah, okay,” he said, hearing the footsteps retreat behind him. Once the door was closed, Trevor went back behind his desk and sat down.

“Remember that audition I had you do a few weeks ago?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.

Right. The audition. He still didn’t know what it was for, just that he wasn’t supposed to tell the boys, which made him incredibly uncomfortable, since he told the boys everything. Luke reached behind him, rubbing the back of his neck.

“I want you to meet Caleb Covington,” Trevor added, gesturing to the other door in his office. A tall man stepped through, an easy grin on his face.

Caleb Covington. The movie director. Standing in front of him. Luke’s eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.

“Mr. Covington,” he said, taking a few jerky steps forward and extending his hand. “It’s such a pleasure to meet you.”

The director chuckled, shaking his hand. “Please Luke, call me Caleb. The way we’re going to be working together, I think that’s more than appropriate.”

Wait. “What?” Luke asked, blinking.

“I’ve got an offer you can’t refuse, Luke Patterson,” Caleb said, spreading his arms wide. “I want you to star in my next movie.”

Luke’s jaw dropped. “Wait, woah, what? Really?” he asked, wringing his hands together. “That is… wow.”

Caleb leaned back against Trevor’s desk. “I see untapped potential in you. The only problem is that my people are a little uncomfortable with the way you’re always in the tabloids. They want to give you four days to stay away from the paparazzi and prove you’re really serious about this.”

Behind Caleb, Trevor was meeting Luke’s eye and nodding. Clearly, his manager thought this was a great opportunity, and Luke didn’t disagree with him. The only problem was the paparazzi. Truthfully, he didn’t think he had a choice of staying away from them.

But if it was to land a movie deal…

“I’ll do it,” he promised, letting out a happy puff of air. “Aw, man, the guys will be so happy for me when they--”

“Oh, you can’t tell the others. Wouldn’t want them to start feeling jealous of you and call the paparazzi to sabotage you,” Caleb interrupted, folding his hands in front of him.

Luke frowned. He told Alex and Reggie everything, not to mention they would never intentionally sabotage him. The expectant look on Caleb’s face, however, told him he didn’t have a choice in the matter.

“Okay,” he finally agreed. Although he was still smiling, it was a weaker smile as he shook Caleb’s hand once more and turned to leave.

Outside Trevor’s office, Alex and Reggie were waiting for him.

“Just wanted to clear some things up about my set of merch,” Luke lied easily, hating that he couldn’t tell them the truth. While Reggie ate it up, cheerfully talking about the upcoming tour, Luke couldn’t help but notice Alex giving him a curious look. To his credit, though, he said nothing.

= = = = =

The flight wasn’t too bad, and soon Julie was trailing behind the other girls as they walked through the airport, stopping to pick up their bags and then taking a shuttle to the hotel.

She was dreading the next part.

“Alright, Jess and Kayla, Miranda and Reagan, and Carrie and Julie,” Mrs Harrison said, handing out room keys.

Carrie scoffed as she had the first time the roommates had been announced. “Is it too late to trade?”

Julie rolled her eyes. Anyone would have been a better roommate than Carrie. Mrs Harrison shook her head, though, leading them up to their rooms. As soon as the door was closed, Carrie marched forward, dropping her bag on one of the beds.

“Listen up. You don’t talk to me. You don’t interrupt my video chats with the girls. You don’t even show up in the video chats. You’re invisible. A ghost,” she said, rounding on her heels and staring at Julie.

Julie shrugged. “Fine by me,” she said, going to the other bed. At least Carrie had given her the bed by the window.

“I get first dibs on the bathroom every morning,” Carrie added, her hands on her hips.

“Whatever,” Julie said, putting her bag down on the floor beside the bed and lying down on her stomach, pulling her phone out to text her father first, and then her Tia, letting them know she had arrived safely. Meanwhile, Carrie had pulled out her own phone and was already chatting with the other girls.

“It’s awful, I know. Yes, I’m working on a plan to sneak us out!”

Julie rolled onto her side, shaking her head. By the time Carrie had finally hung up on the girls and had disappeared into the bathroom, Julie had her headphones on, listening to her favourite music (not Sunset Curve, of course). There was a knock on the door and when Carrie made no move to answer it, Julie slid off the bed and walked over.

“Julie, your aunt is here,” Mrs Harrison said, once she opened the door. Victoria stepped into view beside her, smiling warmly at Julie, her arms spread wide.

Right. Her aunt. Her father had made arrangements for Julie to spend the first two nights at her aunt’s house, to provide her a small amount of comfort. She wasn’t sure how much comfort it would provide, though. Victoria was rather high strung, and after her mother had passed away, she had become almost unbearable, even from afar. She had almost forgotten about the arrangements made.

Carrie poked her head out from the bathroom. “Wait, what’s going on?” she asked, eyeing Julie suspiciously as she stepped back from the hug she had accepted from her aunt.

“You’re getting your wish,” Julie replied, shrugging. “I’m going to stay with my Tia for a couple of nights.”

The other girl squinted, her face twisted in thought. “Mrs Harrison? Since Julie and I are so close, do you think I could go too?”

Julie would have laughed if she wasn’t so shocked. Victoria was still smiling, though, and Julie knew that was a bad sign.

“I don’t see a problem with that. It’ll be nice to have one of Julie’s friends over,” she said, either ignoring or oblivious to Julie’s silent pleas.

Mrs Harrison was her last line of defense, but her teacher glanced between the three of them and finally nodded. “We’ll have to call Carrie’s parents to make sure it’s alright, but I don’t mind,” she said.

Julie’s heart dropped. Two nights with Victoria  _ and _ Carrie? She was starting to regret ever coming on the trip.

Mrs Harrison called Carrie’s father, and soon enough, Carrie and Julie were both carrying their bags down to the lobby, following behind Victoria.

“Don’t worry, I’ll have the two of them at the beach to meet you ladies tomorrow,” Victoria said, gesturing for the girls to follow her to the parking lot.

“What are you doing?” Julie hissed, glancing at Carrie.

“Your aunt has a car, right? You’re going to get the two of us out of the house tonight so I can go to Under-21 and watch Sunset Curve perform,” Carrie replied, holding her chin high.

Of course Carrie had ulterior motives, Julie thought bitterly. At least she knew what car they were walking to. When they finally reached Victoria’s car, Carrie paused midstep, her jaw dropping. Julie had to stifle a giggle as Carrie’s eyes swept over the ancient, hot pink car.

“Meet Petunia,” she said, blowing a bemused puff of air out her nose. Carrie gingerly stepped closer, reaching out and touching it as if to check if it was real.

“Alright, girls, bags in the back, and you two can sit in the back together,” Victoria said, interrupting the moment.

Julie could feel Carrie’s eyes on her the entire ride to Victoria’s house, and as they ate the casserole her aunt had prepared. After supper, they were sitting in the living room, listening to one of Victoria’s stories about meeting a celebrity on the beach when Carrie leaned forward, interrupting.

“Hey, Julie? Weren’t you going to show me that thing? You said your aunt would let you take the car.” She batted her eyelashes at Victoria for effect.

“I don’t see why not,” her aunt said, glancing over at Julie. “It’s so nice that you have a friend here with you, sweetheart. Go ahead, take Petunia, and be home by 11.”

Carrie thanked her, a wicked smile stretching across her face that Julie wanted nothing more than to wipe off. No amount of protesting would help her here; her aunt was set on Julie spending time with her ‘friend’, and after she had spent the past couple of months withdrawn from almost everyone... 

That was how she ended up sitting behind the wheel, taking directions from Carrie until they were parked across the road from Under-21, the teenage hot spot in Hollywood.

“I hate you,” Julie muttered as Carrie pulled out a different, flashier top from her bag and started changing in the back seat.

“I don’t care,” Carrie replied, poking her head up front and adjusting her hair in the mirror. “Just stay here. I’m going to go in, watch Sunset Curve perform, meet Luke, and then we can go back and you can spend time with your precious aunt.”

Julie rolled her eyes, sitting back with a huff as Carrie climbed out, disappearing into the crowd. At first, she listened to the radio but when a Sunset Curve song started to play, she groaned and changed the station. A few moments later, she pulled out her phone and opened Instagram. Out a morbid sense of curiosity, she searched up Sunset Curve and found someone livestreaming from inside the club.

It looked like the band hadn’t shown up, or at least most of them. The camera panned over to where a boy with long brown hair was chatting with someone with dark hair - Reggie, if she remembered Carrie’s gossip magazines correctly. The one with long hair was probably Willie, boyfriend to Alex.

Julie hated that she knew that.

She continued watching on her phone. The lights dimmed, suddenly, and then a spotlight shone on stage. Reggie bounded up on stage, greeting the other two members of Sunset Curve as they appeared as if out of nowhere, much to the glee of the screaming crowd. Whoever was holding the camera panned over again, and Julie noted with a laugh that Carrie was nowhere to be seen.

“We’re dedicating this song to my amazing boyfriend,” the blond guy, Alex was saying. “Happy Birthday, Willie!”

The camera followed Alex over to the edge of the stage where he crouched down, reaching out and taking Willie’s hand and pulling him closer, a fond smile on his face. There was a chorus of “awwww” from the crowd, and Alex straightened, returning to his drumkit.

They started playing, then, and Julie closed Instagram with a huff. More time passed, and she started to get restless. Carrie was still nowhere to be seen, and she figured she had time to get out of the car and stretch her legs, if only for a moment, so she did just that. Leaving the car, she crossed the road and headed down the alley beside Under-21, breathing in the somewhat fresh evening air. She didn’t notice the door up ahead until she was walking past and it opened abruptly, the hard metal hitting her on the head and sending her tumbling backwards, falling to the ground, spots clouding her vision and an instant headache blossoming from the spot where she had hit.

“Ow!” Julie exclaimed, pushing herself up on the pavement and pressing her hand to her head. She blinked, trying to see through the spots as a tall boy wearing a beanie and a loose-fitting tank top peered down, back at her.

“Are you okay?” he asked. Julie blinked, shaking her head. Bad idea. That made it worse, and she closed her eyes tightly. After a moment, she cracked them open, and saw doubles of the boy, still watching her, grimacing.

“Come on,” he said, extending his hand to her. She finally took it, letting him pull her to her feet. She stumbled a bit, blinking until his face was clear.

She almost wished her vision hadn’t cleared up. Staring back at her, concern written all over his face, was none other than Luke Patterson himself, guitarist and lead singer of the band she hated more than anything.

“Talk to me, are you okay?” he asked, holding her shoulders. Julie pulled away from him, still pressing her hand to her head.

“You’re…” she breathed, raising a shaking finger and pointing at him.

His expression morphed into one of fear and he stepped forward, clapping a hand over her mouth. “I’ll give you free front row tickets to my next concert if you don’t scream my name,” he said, staring at her with widened hazel eyes.

Julie took another step back, shaking her head, causing more ripples of pain to wash over her. “I don’t want tickets to your stupid concert!” She leaned back against the brick wall behind her, letting out a slow breath.

The concern sprang back to his expression. “Okay. We’ve got to get you to a doctor.”


	2. Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the overwhelming response to the first chapter!
> 
> Also did I say three parts? Oops I meant four.

Luke didn’t get it. Didn’t get it at all. Everywhere he went, girls (and sometimes even guys) fawned over him, made it their mission to take photos with him and get his autograph. He  _ liked _ it, too. He liked the interactions with fans, liked people telling him how much his music meant to them.

That was why he was extremely concerned about the girl he had knocked to the ground with the door, the girl who kept pulling away from him, the girl who had said she didn’t want tickets to his concert.

“Look, just let me take you to the hospital, and we’ll get you checked out, and then--”

“I don’t want to go anywhere with you!” the girl blurted out, still leaning against the wall.

How hard had he hit her?

At the back of his mind, Luke was still worried about how loudly she was talking. It was only a matter of time before some passerby heard her down the alley and looked and saw him and alerted the paparazzi.

And then he would never get that movie deal.

It was bad enough that earlier, he had worked hard to convince Alex and Reggie that it wasn’t a good idea for the three of them to make a grand entrance to Under-21 where the fiends with cameras could swarm them. It had been Alex’s idea to have Reggie go in alone, pretending that Luke and Alex were busy. Reggie had then gone straight to Willie, telling him the truth quietly, and disappeared to let Alex and Luke in the side door.

From there, it had been easy to make the surprise appearance, perform for Willie’s 19th birthday, and make dozens of fans excited in the process. Given what they were celebrating, Alex had stayed behind after they performed one song, and Luke had used the very publicly adorable nature of their relationship as the perfect cover to slip away unseen, back to the side door where he had probably given this random girl a concussion.

What was he going to do?

“You really should see a doctor and get your head checked out,” he begged, keeping his voice low. Bright light washed over them and Luke glanced sideways, watching Reggie pull up with the car.

“All good, man,” Reggie announced slipping out. When he saw the girl, though, his eyebrows disappeared into his hairline.

“Don’t ask, please,” Luke hissed, rubbing behind his neck. Beside him, the girl was still holding her head. The worst part of it all was that she was actually cute, with her curly hair and her casual outfit. It was just his luck that she was that cute, and yet wanted nothing to do with him.

“Is it normal to be seeing spots like this?” she asked, blinking furiously.

“Uhh… no,” Reggie said, glancing between the two of them curiously. “You should--”

“Get it checked out, yeah,” she interrupted, peeking over at Luke. “Yeah, I think I will.”

_ Finally _ . Luke stepped forward, taking her arm for the briefest of seconds before she shrugged him off.

“What about Carrie?”

Did he know a Carrie? Luke made eye contact with Reggie, who wore a blank expression on his face.

“What about who now?” Reggie asked, voicing their thoughts.

The girl groaned. “My, uh, my friend. She was in the club, and she’ll… she’ll be looking for me.”

She didn’t sound too sure about that, but all the same, Luke nodded

“Reggie,” he said, nodding back down the alley. His friend didn’t move. Instead, he kept standing there with an almost thoughtful expression. Luke tried again. “Reginald. The friend.”

“Oh! Right,” Reggie said, backing away. “I’ll see you in a bit? Don’t let the paparazzi see you.”

If only Reggie knew how important that was. Luke still hated that he couldn’t tell him and Alex about the movie deal, but it wasn’t worth it to dwell. As Reggie walked back down the alley, the girl called after him.

“She’s wearing a pink sequinned top!”

Reggie shot a thumbs up over his shoulder before disappearing around the corner.

“I’ll drive you to the hospital, and then take you home?” Luke asked, almost hesitantly, fearing another lash-out from the girl. She merely nodded though, still holding her head.

“Fine,” she agreed, much to Luke’s pleasant surprise. She even let him take her arm and guide her around to the passenger side door of Reggie’s car, and didn’t even protest when he opened the door for her.

Her head must have really been hurting.

When she was sitting in the car, Luke lingered by the door for a moment.

“So, I didn’t catch your name,” he said, leaning against the car door.

The girl blinked up at him. “Oh, I’m… not feeling so good…”

Luke didn’t have much more of a warning before she was bending over, throwing up all over his brand new shoes.

“Oh, come on!” he exclaimed, taking a step back, staring down at his feet in horror.

“I’m sorry…” the girl moaned, peeking back up at him.

He supposed it was a small price to pay for her cooperation.

“I’ll just… it’s fine,” he said, closing the door and walking around to the other door.

There was an awkward silence between them as he drove towards the hospital. A few times, Luke glanced sideways to take in more of the girl. She was a wicked beauty, he noted, and had to look away before she caught him staring at her. She didn’t speak a single word, though, and only looked at him once, when he started to hum a Sunset Curve song.

He stopped short at the vitriol in her expression.

When they reached the hospital, he went to open the door for her, only to find she had gotten it herself and was walking slowly around the car.

“Hey, be careful,” he said quickly.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” she spat in return.

Luke still couldn’t believe how hard he had hit her, if this was how she was acting.

It was only a mild surprise when they went into the emergency room and Dr. Sanjay was standing there, waiting. Luke should have known that Reggie would call ahead for him. From there, it was a quick triage and the girl was lying on a hospital bed while the doctor examined her. Luke waited anxiously outside the curtain, glancing around furtively, hoping that no one recognized him. It would be just his luck to be seen at the hospital with a mystery girl.

At the same time, though, he was also keeping an ear out for whatever Sanjay and the girl were saying. He had already learned her name (Julie) and decided it suited her. Now he just had to hope that she would be okay.

Behind the curtain, the doctor and patient fell quiet for a moment and Luke tried to hold back his curiosity before finally poking his head through.

“Is she going to be alright?” he asked, looking past Sanjay, at Julie. She was holding an ice pack to her head and looked more irritated than hurt, her brow furrowing behind her hand.

“She’s going to be just fine,” Sanjay said, nodding at Luke. “You were right to bring her here, though.”

“ _ She’s _ sitting right here,” Julie cut in, rolling her eyes. “Besides, isn’t there such a thing as doctor-patient confidentiality?”

Sanjay shrugged, waving Luke out again. A moment later, the doctor stepped out.

“I’m going to discharge her,” he said, standing beside Luke. “I’ll be back with the paperwork shortly.”

He disappeared into the crowd and Luke slipped through the curtain.

“Good news!” he chirped, hoping that if he was in a good mood, maybe it would rub off on her.

“Yeah,” Julie replied, shrugging. “You’d better take me home after this.”

His pocket started to buzz, and the opening riff to “Now or Never” started playing. Luke ignored it, though.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get you home and you can rest.”  _ And hopefully come back to your senses _ , he added silently.

“Right,” Julie said, her annoyed tone scarily becoming familiar to him. “Aren’t you going to answer your phone?”

He grimaced, pulling out his phone and checking the caller ID. “Oh, shit,” he muttered, answering it. “Hey, Trevor.”

“Luke, you’re late. Caleb Covington’s here, and he brought the Danforth-Evans… their son’s a fan, and Caleb was wondering if you would sing something for him. They’re sponsoring the tour and the movie.”

Luke tugged off his beanie and raked his fingers through his hair. It was just his luck that Caleb would be at the party, especially if Reggie and Alex were there too. It was just another reminder of the secret he was keeping from them.

“Luke?”

“I’ll be there,” he promised, glancing at the clock on the wall. “Just clearing something up.”

As he hung up, Sanjay sidled up beside him. “Bad news. One of my nurses just told me there’s a whole crowd of people with cameras at the hospital entrance.”

Luke groaned. “Are you kidding me? How did they find me?” He stood still for a moment, thinking. “Hey. Sanjay. What are you driving?”

The doctor laughed. “Nothing you’d want to drive. I think I got it back when I was still taking my undergrad, and it runs about half as well as you’d expect.”

Clearly, he wasn’t getting the point, so Luke fished in his pocket for the keys to his brand new car. Well, Reggie’s new car, but really, what belonged to one member of Sunset Curve belonged to them all. Except girls (and Willie). It was their code. He dangled the keys in front of Sanjay’s face, staring at him intently.

“You know, I’ve been meaning to upgrade,” Sanjay said finally, digging out his own keys and swapping with Luke. It was only a few more minutes before Julie was being discharged and Luke was leading her through the hospital to the side entrance, where Sanjay had parked his car.

“Where are we going?” Julie asked, still holding an ice pack wrapped in a pink towel to her forehead. Somehow, it made her look cuter.

“Trust me, you don’t want the paparazzi seeing you leaving here with me,” Luke replied, finding Sanjay’s car in the lot. “Climb in, and keep your head down.”

“I would have thought you loved the paparazzi.” To her credit, Julie did as he asked, sitting low in the chair. “All those gossip magazines are filled with pictures of you and your band.”

Luke sighed. “You wouldn’t understand,” he said, starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot. “Ugh, Sanjay wasn’t kidding when he said this thing was old.”

She stifled a snort at that, and Luke counted it as a win for him, even if she was laughing at his expense.

= = = = =

Julie’s head was still pounding, but at least she wasn’t seeing spots anymore. Instead, she was seeing an annoying rock star driving her home in a car he had apparently traded from the doctor. The very same doctor who had raved about Luke giving him rare baseball cards while he was shining penlights in her eyes and explaining to her that she would be fine with just a bit of rest.

She really needed the night to end.

It quickly became clear to her, though, that they were heading in the complete opposite direction from her aunt’s home. The word  _ kidnapped _ floated through her thoughts and she chanced a quick glance sideways at the boy, only a year or two older than she was. Was he capable of something like that? It would explain why he wasn’t keen on getting his photo taken for once.

She watched as he drummed on the steering wheel and started humming a song to himself.

No. Definitely not capable of kidnapping.

“Aren’t you taking me home?” she finally asked, if only to stop his humming. “This isn’t the way I told you.”

He looked at her from the corner of his eye, his eyebrow raised. “I’ll take you home, that much I promised… but we just have to make a little pitstop first. Just… trust me.”

Julie scoffed. “Sure,” she replied, turning to look out the window, watching the world go by. Part of her wondered if Carrie had gotten back to her aunt’s house yet, and part of her hoped that the other girl was lost in Hollywood somewhere. She wasn’t sure which part was more dominant.

When they pulled up outside a large, gated home, Julie’s jaw dropped. She plastered her face to the window, looking up at the structure.

“Please don’t tell me you live here,” she said, although she wasn’t really talking to Luke.

“Kind of. Our manager lives here, and none of us really get along with our parents so we all crash with him,” the star replied. When Julie looked back at him, he had an eager smile on his face, watching her.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she groaned, rolling her eyes. She didn’t miss the way his face fell even as he tried to hide it by turning and getting out of the car.

Julie scrambled out of the car, staring up at the mansion until he took her by the arm, practically pulling her inside.

“Hey! I can walk by myself, you know,” she complained.

Luke’s eyes darted around, and Julie noticed that it wasn’t an entirely quiet evening at the mansion. She could hear voices, and music.

“Just… follow me and stay quiet,” he hissed, grabbing for her hand instead and pulling her in through a large, glass door. Julie would have complained, if not for the fact that she could sense the urgency in his voice and demeanour.

She was almost upset that he was that embarrassed to have a completely random girl at his house.

He led her up a spiralling staircase to the upper mezzanine, and Julie’s eyes roamed the walls. There were large posters of the entire band as well as all three members individually spaced around the room, as well as plaques with their albums.

“That’s some self-indulgent decor,” she commented as he pulled her into a room. He either didn’t hear her or was ignoring her, instead leading her to the centre of the room and pausing, turning to look at her.

“The guest room, be my guest. I’ll only be a few minutes, tops. Promise. Then I’ll take you home and you can get back to your normal, everyday life,” he said, pressing his palms together in front of him.

“You’d better,” Julie retorted, glancing around the room. It was some guest room, she thought, with a king sized bed and an ensuite bathroom. It even had a sliding glass door leading to a balcony, but the most offensive part was the neon sign on the wall with the name of the band. She had to hold back a snort.

Luke was watching her with a pleading expression on his face. “Please, just… stay.” It was punctuated by him holding his hands as though she were a dog.

Julie shook her head in disbelief. “Woof,” she replied, sarcastically.

Once again, he seemed distracted as he turned, rubbing his palms together once more and leaving the room. Julie waited a moment before going to sit on the bed.

Disgusting. The bed was softer than her own bed at home in Michigan.

She got up almost instantly, instead going to the balcony door. Down below, she could see a pool and guests milling around. All famous types, she guessed. By the pool’s edge, she could see Reggie standing, talking to Alex and Willie. The three of them turned, greeting Luke who must have just run out of the mansion. Strangely, Julie couldn’t shake the feeling that they looked like ordinary friends who just happened to be famous and live in a mansion.

= = = = =

“I kind of feel bad that it’s your birthday, but hey, you can just pretend the party’s for you!” Reggie quipped, nudging Willie in the side.

Luke laughed as he watched Alex try as hard as he could not to facepalm at their friend’s comment. To Willie’s credit, though, he laughed it off.

“It’s cool, man. I know how important it is for you guys,” he said.

Alex turned, his eyes softening as he looked at Willie and squeezed his hand, and Luke couldn’t help but feel the tiniest bit jealous of Alex, that he had such an amazing boyfriend. If only one of them could have a partner, though, he was glad it was Alex.

He felt a hand descend on his shoulder and turned, smiling up at Trevor.

“See, I made it,” he announced, crossing his arms in front of him.

Trevor grinned. “I knew I could count on you, kiddo.” With a glance at Alex and Reggie, he leaned in closer. “Can I borrow you for a bit?”

Aware of Alex’s ever-watchful gaze, Luke nodded. “Sure.” He patted Reggie on the chest. “I’ll catch up with you guys later?” Turning to Willie, he grinned. “And not for nothing, but Reggie’s right. Pretend this is all for you.”

With that, he turned and followed Trevor down the length of the pool to where Caleb was waiting with two men and a boy who looked to be a year or two younger than Luke.

“There he is,” Caleb said, extending his hand to Luke. He shook the older man’s hand. “These are my good friends, the Danforth-Evans’, and their son, Nick. Nick tells me he’s a big fan of Sunset Curve.” There was an edge to Caleb’s voice, a sharpness in his eyes, and Luke caught on quickly.

“Hey,” he said, shaking hands with the two men before turning to Nick. “You know, we’ve been working on a new song. If you’ll give me a moment…” he trailed off, glancing back at where Alex and Reggie were standing, then back at Caleb. Thankfully, the director seemed to agree with him, giving a barely noticeable nod.

“That sounds awesome!” Nick exclaimed, and that was the final piece of approval Luke needed to slip away, throwing his arms over the shoulders of his two closest friends.

“How do you guys feel about previewing one of our new songs?” he asked, hoping it didn’t sound too much like a question.

“Any particular reason?” Alex asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice.

Luke shrugged. “See over there, with Trevor? That’s the Danforth-Evans’. They’re sponsoring the tour. I was thinking “Hold On?””

Reggie’s eyes widened, and Luke knew he was sold. Alex was more hesitant, but even he finally nodded.

Luke ran to grab his guitar and when he returned, Trevor had cleared a makeshift stage area where Alex was already waiting with his cajon box. Nick and his dads were standing close by, and Luke noticed Caleb lurking behind them as he plucked a few notes to test the tuning.

“So, this is a song we’ve been working on,” he said, starting to play the chords. Alex backed him up on the cajon box, and as Luke started to sing, Reggie providing harmony, he couldn’t help but sink into the music.

It was what he was born to do. Making music with Alex and Reggie was the one thing he enjoyed more than anything else in the world, and as they finished the first verse and moved into the chorus, Luke barely noticed Caleb’s heavy stare. Instead, he played up the performance, feeding off Nick’s eager energy. When they reached the bridge, Reggie bounced over to him, leaning against his shoulder and singing with him.

He wasn’t sure what made him do it, but as the song was winding down, Luke glanced upwards. The girl, Julie, was there, standing on the balcony off the guest room, her arms on the railing and her chin resting on them. He was surprised she was listening, and as they sang the coda, he couldn’t drag his eyes away from the way her curly hair framed her face.

The party guests applauded as he played the last chord and Luke had to tear his eyes away from Julie, instead smiling at Nick.

“That was incredible!” the boy breathed, beaming back at him. Behind him, Caleb was nodding, a small smirk on his face, and beside Caleb, Trevor looked proud. When he glanced up, though, Luke was disappointed to notice that Julie wasn’t on the balcony anymore.

Thankfully, the pleasantries didn’t last too long afterwards, and Luke was soon free to slip away (after signing a tshirt for Nick, of course). He ignored the unspoken question in Alex’s eyes, making a beeline inside for the steps.

Luke stopped just inside the door.

“What are you doing?” he hissed, staring up at Julie, half down the steps.

“I got bored,” she replied, crossing her arms in front of her. “Can we go now?”

“I was just coming to get you,” he retorted, leaning against a pillar in the middle of the room. “Come on.”

Thankfully, she followed as he led her to the garage where the rest of the cars he shared with Alex, Reggie, and of course, Trevor resided.

Julie stopped at the door, her eyes widening. “Are all of these--”

“Ours, yes. We’re famous, we have a mansion, and we own a lot of vintage cars,” Luke cut her off, rolling his eyes. “I know you don’t get it, but this is just part of my life. Now, would you just pick a car so I can take you home?”

She stared at him in disbelief and he sighed, going to the convertible and opening the passenger side door. When he looked back up at Julie, though, she was climbing into the car next to it. Luke threw up his hands, scoffing.

“What… what’s the purpose of that?” he asked no one in particular, climbing in the driver’s side beside her.

For the second time that evening, Luke found himself driving a car filled with stony silence while Julie adamantly stared out the window. To fill the silence, he turned on the radio and a Sunset Curve song started playing. Cheerful humming turned to singing the words quietly, which he only stopped when he noticed Julie glaring at him.

“What?”

“Do you have to sing?” she asked, rolling her eyes.

“I don’t get it,” Luke said, slowing to a stop at some lights. “Our fans love our music.”

Julie shrugged. “Yeah, I’m sure they do. There’s just one problem. I’m not a fan.”

“Of our music?” He was genuinely curious. “You liked the song we played earlier.”

She blinked. “What?”

“I saw you. Up on the balcony. You were listening.”

“I was just getting some fresh air,” she retorted.

“I find that hard to believe.” Gosh, she was annoying.

“Okay, fine. So maybe I like some of your music,” she finally admitted.

“So then, what are you not a fan of?”

There was a long pause before she answered. “Of you. Of your life. You drive around in fancy cars and live in a giant mansion, and throw parties.” There was true scorn in her voice, and Luke couldn’t help but feel hurt.

“You don’t even know me,” he said, putting out the feeler.

It didn’t work. “I don’t want to know you. I want to get back to my life and forget tonight ever happened.” Julie folded her arms in front of her as the light changed and he started to drive again.

“Look, I think… if you really knew me, then you’d actually like me. I’m not just a face in a tabloid and a voice on the radio, you know,” he said, trying one more time.

Julie only hummed, turning to the window, and Luke felt his ego deflating rapidly.

“Fine,” he said sourly, turning his focus back to the road.

Soon, Julie started giving monotone directions until he was pulling up in front of a cosy-looking home. She started to climb out without a word, and Luke hesitated for only a moment before his arm shot out and he grabbed her wrist.

“Julie…” She turned back, her eyebrows raised, and he spoke quickly. “Look, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for tonight, and I promise you won’t see me again.”

She sighed. “Thank you for the ride.”

With that, Julie pulled her hand free and walked up to the door. Luke watched her until she disappeared inside, then pulled away, ready to go back to the mansion and play his guitar loudly until he forgot about the entire evening. A few blocks away, though, he noticed a large black van tailing him.

Luke groaned. “Shit.”

He made a series of right turns, to check, and sure enough, the van continued to follow. Paparazzi. It was just his luck.

Luke only had one choice, and it was going to suck.

= = = = =

Thankfully, Julie noticed Carrie’s coat in the front closet. She had made it home. No one seemed to be up, so Julie went to the kitchen to get a glass of water before heading up to her bedroom for some much-needed rest.

While she sipped at the water, she thought back over the events of the evening. No one would ever believe her, even if she wanted to share what had happened, and she was quite content to let it fade into distant memory. There wasn’t much Luke Patterson could do to change her opinion of him, even if he was easy on the eyes and sounded really good when he was playing acoustic guitar and singing live.

She shook her head. He was never going to cross her path again, so there was no use thinking about him.

There was a sound at the window, and Julie glanced over. It happened again, and that time she saw the stone hit the glass. When she went to the window, she could see an orange beanie and a finger pointing to the door.

“Seriously?” Julie groaned, going to the door and opening it a crack. “Go away.”

Luke was looking at her with a meek grin. “Look, I’ll give you $5000 if you do me this favour.”

“Why do you do that?” Julie asked, pressing her palm to her forehead.

“Do what?”

“Throw around your money whenever you need something!”

Luke breathed in through clenched teeth. “I can’t go home. The paparazzi found me and I can’t be seen. Is there any chance I could, you know, crash here for the night?”

Julie stared at him blankly. “What is it with you and avoiding paparazzi today?” she asked, grabbing her coat.

“You wouldn’t understand,” Luke said, leaning against the doorframe. “But I really,  _ really _ would appreciate this. Please?”

Julie really should have said no.

So why was she suddenly helping him push his car into her aunt’s garage?

She blamed the way he looked at her and tugged off his beanie and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Welcome to Casa de la Tia,” she said, gesturing around the garage. Thankfully, her aunt didn’t go out there often. “As long as you’re gone before we get up in the morning…”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Luke cut in, nodding. “I get it. I’ll be out of your hair, and  _ then _ , I promise you’ll never have to see me again.” He paused, pressing his palms together. “Er… any chance I could borrow something to disguise myself when I leave tomorrow?”

Julie sighed, going to a shelf at the back of the garage. “There’s some boxes here. My tia won’t miss any of it,” she said, tugging one of the boxes down. Luke stepped up beside her, his arm brushing against hers as he dug through the box and pulled out a red bandana.

“This should do the trick,” he said, dropping his beanie on top of the box and tying the bandana around his forehead so that it covered most of his hair.

Julie turned. He was too close to her, so close that she could smell the cologne he used, but also so close that she could see the faint rose pattern on the bandana. She instantly sniffled.

“That was my mom’s,” she breathed, blinking. “I didn’t realize my tia had kept it. She… she passed away earlier this year.”

To his credit, Luke immediately reached up, going to take it off. “I’m so sorry… you can have it back,” he said, holding it out to her.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “You can keep it. I have plenty of her bandanas at home.”

His expression softened, and she felt uncomfortable. Turning away, she pretended to be interested in another box until she didn’t feel like she was about to cry anymore.

Luke didn’t speak to her the entire time she was standing there with her shoulders shaking. When she turned back, he was watching her, concern written all over his face.

“Julie--”

“I’m going back inside,” she said abruptly, cutting him off. “Remember to be gone by morning. Goodnight, Luke.”

She turned on her heels and marched out of the garage. It wasn’t until she was sitting on her bed, pulling out her phone and looking at photos of her and her mom that she realized she had said goodnight.

Not goodbye.


	3. Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a ROLLER COASTER of emotions. Enjoy!

Julie woke to the smoky smell of bacon filling the house. She dragged herself down the steps, still dressed in her pajamas, only to find Carrie and her aunt sitting together at the kitchen island. They looked to be in deep conversation, although it stopped when her aunt looked up and saw Julie standing under the archway into the kitchen, yawning and stretching.

“There you are, mija,” Victoria said, rising to her feet and turning back to the stove. “We didn’t hear you come in last night.”

Carrie’s back was to her, but Julie could sense the displeasure rolling off the other girl. She gave a meek grin, taking the offered plate of food from her aunt and sitting at the table. Through the window, she could see the garage door, and her heart pounded. Had he remembered? Was he gone? She sure hoped he was.

Mercifully, surprisingly, Victoria didn’t pester her too much about the previous night. They ate their breakfast in peace, and Julie couldn’t help but appreciate her aunt’s cooking.

“The girls are meeting us at the beach today,” Carrie piped up, apparently still trying to pretend that she and Julie were still friends.

“Oh, wonderful! You really should enjoy yourselves before the competition,” Victoria replied.

Julie hummed, staring down at her plate. The competition. Right. She had nearly forgotten about that.

Victoria insisted they use Petunia, and Julie soon found herself in the car. Carrie wanted to drive, and Julie let her. They were only going to the beach, after all. It wouldn’t be too long of a drive, and it gave her time to think about the previous evening. She didn’t even protest when Carrie changed the radio station to one Julie knew loved to report on celebrity drama.

While they were driving, Carrie suddenly turned up the volume on the radio. At first, Julie was confused, and then she realized just what was being discussed.

“Sources say Luke and Alex of Sunset Curve appeared as if by magic on stage at Under-21 last night to join their third bandmate Reggie in performing a song for Alex’s boyfriend’s birthday. No one saw them enter the club, and Luke mysteriously vanished shortly after the performance, only to magically reappear hours later at manager Trevor Wilson’s home… with a girl.”

Carrie scoffed. “And to think, I was this close to actually meeting him, and then you had to go and disappear on me,” she said, shooting a glare Julie’s way.

“Get over it,” Julie replied, sinking down in the seat a bit as the radio host went on to talk about how Luke hadn’t been seen with a girl in months, and how strange it was that he would risk a new relationship during a time when he seemed to be actively trying to avoid the paparazzi’s eye. “You know, it’s kind of sad that he has to hide so much,” she commented offhand, staring out the window as road signs passed by.

“He’s famous, it comes with the territory,” Carrie replied, shrugging.

Julie didn’t reply. A few moments later, she straightened up. “Wait. This isn’t the way to Venice Beach.”

“I know,” Carrie replied. “We’re going to Malibu.”

“Why Malibu?”

“Because Luke Patterson likes to surf there,” Carrie retorted, rolling her eyes. “God, do I have to explain everything to you?”

Julie clammed up. It was all she could do not to scream at the thought of running into the singer once again.

They finally arrived, and Carrie parked the old, pink car and got out, carrying her beach bag with her. “You don’t exist to me here,” she quipped, marching off no doubt to find a spot on the sand to sunbathe.

Julie hesitated at the top of the boardwalk, looking around. To her left she could hear a busker strumming his guitar, and to her right, a couple was bounding down towards the sand together. She groaned, making her way through the crowd of beach-goers until something caught her eye.

Two beach chairs, one occupied by someone wearing a red bandana tied over his head.

Julie arched an eyebrow. Well, this was just interesting. Even though she had vowed not to have anything more to do with the rock star, she couldn’t help it. She walked over. “Excuse me,” she said, trailing her fingers across the back of the boy’s chair before resting her hand on the free chair. “Is this seat taken?”

She had to stifle a giggle as he tugged the oversized cardigan he was wearing up and shrank down further in the seat. Well that was just an invitation. “Okay, thank you,” she said, sitting down beside him. He turned his head away, adjusting his sunglasses and she smirked to herself. “It’s a really nice day, isn’t it? Oh, were you sleeping? I’m sorry.”

Finally, he turned to look at her. “How did you know it was me?” Luke asked, pushing his sunglasses down and staring over the rims at her.

Julie shrugged. “I know that bandana,” she said, tapping the side of her head for effect. He gave a meek smile, waving his hands in surrender. “What are you doing here, anyway? I thought you would have gone home or something.”

She didn’t miss the way he cringed. “I couldn’t. The paparazzi vans were camped outside Trevor’s place. The boys have texted me a couple of times, but I just… decided to come here,” he explained, adjusting the cardigan. “Found this in the back of the car and thought it’d help with the disguise.”

“Wow, that really sucks,” Julie said, unable to hold back an airy sarcasm to her tone.

“At least you have the freedom to go home whenever you want,” Luke retorted, crossing his arms in front of him. “It’s exhausting, avoiding them.”

Julie let out an exasperated puff of air. “At least you chose this life,” she said, shaking her head. “You don’t have to worry about people wondering every day whether this will be the day you crack from grief.”

He went silent, and Julie noticed her hands had balled into clenched fists at her sides. She drew in a deep breath through her nose, willing herself to calm down, hoping she hadn’t just revealed too much too soon. After all, she would likely never see Luke again after the music competition, after she returned to Michigan.

“I’m sorry,” he said, finally, rubbing the side of his nose. “You’re right, I don’t have to worry about that.” His voice was quieter, softer. “But it does suck, having my whole life be fair game to a bunch of people with cameras. Not being allowed to have secrets.”

Julie shrugged, glancing sideways at him. “Right.”

“Oh, and… thank you, again, for last night. Letting me stay at, what was it? Casa de la Tia?” Now he had the smallest hint of a smile, and she couldn’t help it. It was infectious, and she let her head hang so her hair could somewhat hide her own smile.

“It was the least I could do after you got me to the hospital.”

“Yeah, and I’m still sorry about that too,” he quipped.

She giggled. “You should be.”

There was a sound of approaching vehicles and Luke glanced behind them, only to turn back, his eyes wide. “Shit! How do they always know where to find me?”

Julie looked over her shoulder, seeing the black vans piling into the parking lot, then back at Luke. “I mean, my, er, friend knows exactly where you’re likely to be every minute of every day. It’s like you said, your life’s pretty public.”

Luke shook his head, tugging the cardigan up around his chin. “I can’t be seen. I really just…” he paused, peering at her from behind the sunglasses. “What type of car do you have?”

She was taken off guard for a moment, before realizing what he was insinuating. A wry smirk stretched across her face. “Oh, it’s a classic,” she said, tilting her head to the side. “You’ll love it”

“Great,” he said. “I just need to drive around for a bit until they lose my trail, then I can bring it back for you.”

Julie nodded. “But first…” she held out her hand. “I need your keys.”

He blinked at her. “Wait, why?”

“Because, Luke, Carrie’s here at the beach and I’m not about to leave her and I stranded.” She gestured with her fingertips, arching an eyebrow.

“I--” Luke groaned, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a set of keys, his fingers tightly curled around them. “It’s an expensive car…” He reached out, still holding them, and Julie gestured once again for him to hand them over.

Finally, he let them drop into her outstretched hand and she stole away, leaving Luke to shrink down in the chair to avoid the paparazzi while she found Carrie sunbathing and singing a Sunset Curve song under her breath with her earbuds in. It was easy to slip the keys into her bag and grab the keys to Petunia (keys she really should have had, but arguing with Carrie wasn’t worth it), all the while wondering for all the world why she was agreeing to help him. It wasn’t as if she liked the guy.

Why was she agreeing to help him? The fact that she had had no hesitation worried her.

On her way back to Luke, back to the weirdest distraction life had ever thrown her way, she was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice the boy in her path until she had crashed into him, throwing herself off balance.

“Woah, sorry about that,” the boy said, his hands going to her elbows to steady her. Julie blinked, shaking her head.

“No, I’m sorry,” she said, taking a step back. Only then did she look the boy up and down. Blond hair tucked under a bucket hat and a cheerful grin that faltered at the exact moment that she recognized him.

“No way… Julie?”

She blanched. “Nick! I didn’t realize… since when are you in Hollywood?” Julie asked, chuckling nervously. They had gone to school together as long as Julie could remember, until the beginning of sophomore year when he had moved away; Julie thought it had something to do with his parents’ jobs.

Nick laughed, folding his hands in front of him. “My dads have some business, and they brought me along because it involves a band I like… you might remember? Sunset Curve?”

Julie was sure her face was going to be sore later, with the effort she was putting in to keep the fakest smile plastered on. Now she remembered. Nick had been there, last night, at the party. Luke and the others had sung for him.

Crap.

“Oh yeah, I remember,” she said, her voice rising in pitch ever so slightly. “That’s really cool!” It was hard to feign excitement, given the situation, but she tried her best. Nick had been a good friend, although Carrie had monopolized his time much to Julie’s dismay.

“Yeah, I actually met the guys last night! It was super cool,” Nick continued, beaming. “Luke’s the best… but I forgot, you don’t really like them, hey?”

Trust Nick to remember something like that. Julie shrugged. “It’s not that I don’t like them,” she started, catching sight of the familiar red bandana over Nick’s shoulder. “I’m just not a fan.”

Nick chuckled. “It’s all good. We all have different interests. So what are you doing in Hollywood?”

“The music competition,” she explained.

“You mean the one Carrie’s been waiting for since eighth grade?” Nick asked, leaning forward in interest. Above his shoulder, Luke was gesturing for her to come over and Julie grimaced.

“Yeah, that one,” she said, almost too quickly. Shifting her weight in the sand, she crossed her arms in front of her. “Look, it was great to see you, and we should… we should catch up sometime. Actually, Carrie’s here! On the beach! I’m going to, uh… I’m going to go find some ice cream to surprise her.” It was a lame excuse and Julie knew it.

Thankfully, Nick was too nice to point it out. “It was really nice to see you too, Julie,” he said, reaching over and patting her elbow. “I’ll see you around?”

She nodded. “Yeah!” Julie said, her voice rising in pitch once again. When he walked around her, heading down towards the water, she let out a long sigh of relief and practically ran over to where Luke was impatiently waiting for her, tapping his foot in the sand, cardigan wrapped tightly around him.

“What was that about?” he asked, huffing. “You know I’m in a hurry, Julie, and you stopped to chat with some guy?”

If Julie didn’t know any better, she’d guess that Luke was  _ jealous _ . He was watching her with a sort of hurt-puppy expression, his eyes flicking over her shoulder every so often. Towards where she had been standing. Talking to Nick.

She snorted. “Calm down, Luke. I don’t owe you. If anything, you owe me.”

“Still,” he said, though it was accompanied by a hand wave of surrender. “So, where’s that classic you promised me?”

Julie held up the keys, letting them jangle against her palm. “Follow me.”

She led him back to the parking lot, and was about to step off the sand when he grabbed her, pulling her behind a hedge.

“Hey!”

“It’s them.”

She peeked up over the hedge, taking in the small army of black vans parked.

“Oh.”

“They’re relentless. We need to keep our heads down,” Luke said, tugging his cardigan up to cover his face more as a group of photographers climbed out of the vans and started looking this way and that, clearly hoping to catch sight of some celebrity. Like Luke.

Julie nodded, slowly leading him across the parking lot to where Petunia was waiting.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

Luke stared at the car, his jaw dropped, and Julie fought a giggle.

“Meet Petunia,” she announced, passing him the keys. “Have her back in an hour.”

There was a muffled shout behind them and Luke ducked down behind the flamingo pink hood, pulling her with him.

“Shit,” he mumbled, pressing his forehead against the metal. “Shit, shit, shit.”

“Why are you so worried about them?” Julie asked, still curious. He didn’t answer, instead peeking up. “Luke?”

“Shh!” he hissed, creeping sideways and opening the door. “Go get in.”

“Stop telling me what to do!” Julie retorted, although the urgency in his expression had her obeying, sneaking around the front of the car to the passenger side. Just as she reached the door, though, it opened, bonking her in the head and sending her toppling backwards.

“Sorry!” she heard from inside the car.

“You have  _ got _ to stop doing that!” Julie groaned, slipping in the car and closing the door behind her.

Luke didn’t answer, instead reaching across her and rummaging through the glovebox.

“Here, put these on,” he said, passing her an old silk scarf that Julie was pretty sure hadn’t been taken out of the car in years, as well as his sunglasses. The urgency was still there in his voice, though, so she nodded, putting on the glasses and wrapping the scarf around her hair before crouching down, although she pulled her shoulder away from Luke’s hand as he tried to press her down.

“Stay down!”

“I am!” she retorted, though she peeked behind her shoulders, watching the paparazzi run around. The driver side window was still cracked open from when Carrie had been driving and she could hear them shouting, could hear snippets of the conversation.

“Where is he?”

“Did you see him?”

“I thought he was over there!”

Luke adamantly ignored it, backing out of the parking spot and driving in the opposite direction, his shoulders hunched up and his head down as far as he could get it while still having eyes on the road. It wasn’t until they were cruising down the boulevard that he visibly relaxed, straightening up.

“Hopefully they leave the beach in a bit and we can go back. And then,  _ then  _ I promise I’ll leave you alone,” he said, his tone more cheerful than before.

Julie rolled her eyes. “Finally,” she retorted, straightening in her seat.

With that, Julie turned to the window (all the better to ignore Luke) while he mumbled under his breath about how difficult it was to drive the car. It was the third time in less than 24 hours that she was forced to share space with the rock star, and she hated that she was starting to get used to the way he would drum on the wheel with his fingertips, the way he couldn’t help but start humming.

“No way,” she said, reaching for the volume knob on the radio and turning it up.

A song was just beginning, and Luke gave a bark of laughter just as Julie realized what was happening.

She knew that guitar riff.

She hated that she knew it.

“Take off, last stop, countdown ‘til we blast open the top,” Luke sang along with the radio, eyeing Julie with a grin.

She groaned, crossing her arms across her chest and turning back to the window as he continued singing. The worst part was that he was actually really good. Memories of the previous night started to return and Julie found herself thinking about the way he had looked, singing by the pool for Nick. About how he had been so full of passion as he had sang, so full of joy. In fact, it was the same joy that he was now exuding as he sang the bridge of the song, an infectious joy that was starting to take hold of her.

Julie didn’t notice her fingertips tapping on her thighs until she glanced over and caught Luke beaming at her.

“Keep your eyes on the road,” she said, folding her hands together.

He shrugged, finishing the song. When the next song began, he reached for the volume knob and turned it down.

“Sooooo… what brings you to Hollywood?” he asked, almost hesitantly.

Julie wasn’t going to answer at first. It wasn’t as if he cared, after all. He was just being polite, and would forget everything she said as soon as he was back in his own fancy car. The look in his eyes had her reconsidering, though, and finally she sighed.

“I’m here with some girls from my school, back in Michigan,” she explained, shrugging. “We’re taking part in the Orpheum Music Competition.”

“Oh, wicked,” Luke replied, glancing sideways at her. “That’s a big competition. We actually got our start there, a couple of years back.” She hummed, and he continued. “So you sing, then?”

“I do, yeah.”

“You don’t sound too sure of that,” Luke pointed out.

Julie scoffed, turning to face him. “How would you know?” Even though she had told him about her mother in the garage, she didn’t feel like she could tell him the real reason she was hesitant, not when she hadn’t even told Flynn.

They stopped at a red light and he turned to her, rubbing his face. “I don’t, but… I mean, you did tell me last night about--”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Julie cut in, slapping a hand to her forehead. The palm of her hand brushed against the sunglasses she was still wearing and, to try and deflect from her, she pulled them off her face and examined them.

“These are nice,” she said, eyeing the gold detailing on the arms. Surprisingly, they had fit rather well. And they were Luke’s, a small part of her deep inside murmured.

“You like them?” Luke asked, a touch of concern still in his expression even though he seemed to be trying to mask it with a smile. Julie nodded just as the light changed and he continued driving. “You can keep them.”

“Why do you do that?” she asked, fiddling with the sunglasses.

“Do what?”

“Throw your things and money around like it’s no big deal.”

Luke was quiet for a moment. “I guess it never seems like a big deal. I just do it because I like giving things to people,” he answered finally.

“See, that’s not normal,” Julie said, shrugging.

“Look, if you don’t want the glasses, then I’ll take them back,” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Oh, no, I’m keeping the glasses. Besides, you still owe me $5000 for your stay at Casa de la Tia.” She arched an eyebrow at him and he held up a hand in surrender.

“Point taken.”

“So, what should we do now?” Julie asked, turning to look out the window again. “Just drive around Hollywood?”

“I was thinking maybe I could show you around?” There was that stupid hopeful puppy voice again, and Julie let out a breath. There wasn’t much else she could think of, and at least she would get the chance to go sightseeing without Carrie ruining things for her.

“Sure.”

“Rad!”

Their first stop was Venice Beach, and Julie was immediately in love with the vibe. When Luke parked the car and she followed him to the Ocean Front Walk, she found herself surrounded by street performers and venders. Luke kept the bandana wrapped around his head and led her down the promenade, stopping at a stand to buy a map and a new pair of sunglasses. Julie immediately took the sunglasses from him, trying them on and making a show out of trying to decide between his original pair and the new pair.

“I like these ones better,” she said, putting his sunglasses back on.

“Really?” Luke said, giving a mock sigh and taking the new pair back from her. Before they left, Julie bought a cheap disposable camera.

“Don’t you have a phone?” Luke asked, peering over her shoulder.

“Yeah, but my papi’s a photographer, and he says pictures look better on film,” she replied, shrugging and sliding the camera into her bag.

Luke chuckled, but didn’t say anything. Instead, he gestured for her to follow him to the next vendor where he bought street tacos for both of them.

“Delicious, right?” he asked, taking a large bite, holding the taco awkwardly to avoid anything dripping on his clothes.

Julie took a far more polite nibble, chewing thoughtfully. “Yeah, it really is.”

The ocean breeze was salty and fresh as it rustled through her hair. As they walked down the promenade, stopping every so often for Julie to take a picture with the disposable camera, she couldn’t help but notice that Luke was practically glowing with excitement, especially when she didn’t pull her hand away when he took it to lead her to a large mural. 

“I’ll take your picture in front of it,” he said, flashing her a wide grin. It was hard to say no, and she handed the camera over and went to pose in front of the mural. The camera flashed, and she went back over to him.

“Your turn,” she said, taking the camera, ignoring how her heart fluttered as their fingers touched.

Luke chuckled. “Alright,” he said, taking her place in front of the mural. He crossed his arms in front of him, leaning back nonchalantly, and Julie snapped the photo.

“Perfect,” she quipped, walking over to him. “What’s next?”

He grinned. “Follow me.”

Here, down on the beach, with no one around to clamour for his attention, Luke almost seemed… normal. They passed by a street performer who was playing an upbeat song on his guitar and Luke paused, taking Julie’s hands and dancing to the music with her for a moment before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a $20 bill. She didn’t even blink, though, as he dropped it into the man’s open guitar case. Instead, she reached into her own pocket, pulling out a small handful of $1 bills and adding them to the pile. The musician nodded appreciatively and Luke whisked Julie away to another vender selling magazines.

“I’ll bet you another taco you can’t find me on any of these magazine covers,” he murmured, close to her ear.

Julie breathed in through her nose, trying to ignore the fact that he was  _ so close _ to her. So close. And so handsome, she was starting to realize, now that he wasn’t acting like a rock star, but like a normal teenage boy who just happened to be on the cover of the first magazine she pulled from the rack.

Thankfully, the vendor wasn’t paying attention.

The look of triumph on Luke’s face was enough to drive her to giggles.

“A teen gossip magazine isn’t a real magazine,” she said in a deadpan tone once the giggles stopped. Still, when Luke turned away, she called the vendor over and paid for the magazine.

They walked away from the vendor, admiring the photo of Sunset Curve on the cover together. Julie was having so much fun she forgot why she had ever disliked the guy in the first place.

“Take a picture with it?” Luke asked, holding out his hand. Julie laughed.

“Only if you’re in it,” she replied, handing him the camera and stepping close to him.

Luke grinned, letting the camera flash while she displayed the magazine cover at chest level. He started to move before she did, and his shoulder bumped into hers.

“Oh, sorry,” he said, patting her shoulder in apology.

“It’s, uh, it’s fine.” It was more than fine. Julie wasn’t sure at what point she had gone from tolerating Luke, to enjoying herself in his presence, to enjoying his presence with her, but here she was. She was enjoying her day with him.

Luke offered her a wink, pulling her to the nearest street taco stand - “You owe me one!” - and she hummed and hawed over having to buy one for him but really, she found it endearing, the way he eagerly grabbed the taco from her and took half of it in one giant bite.

Next, he took her to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, taking a picture of her with the star of any celebrity she named.

“What about you?” she asked, nudging his side with her elbow.

“What about me?”

“Who do you want to see here?”

He arched an eyebrow at her, and suddenly Julie was seeing every rock legend’s star they could find. When they found Queen’s star, she made him take another selfie with her, and as the camera flashed, she glanced sideways. He was beaming, and she could see a dimple in his cheek just before he turned to her.

“Come on!” he exclaimed, taking her hand and leading her away.

While he was buying water bottles for them, Julie noticed something across the street.

“Hey,” she said, tapping his shoulder. “Check it out.” She jutted her thumb over her shoulder.

Luke’s eyes widened and the infectious smile grew even larger. “Wicked,” he breathed, looking at the large Sunset Curve billboard on top of a nearby building.

“You know what we have to do,” Julie said, taking the camera from him and gesturing. “Go on.”

He chuckled, taking a few steps out and posing, pointing up towards the billboard while Julie snapped the shot.

They found the car and Luke began driving, playing deaf to Julie’s questions about where they were going.

“Come on, not one hint?” she begged.

His only response was to turn up the music as a Sunset Curve song started playing. While he sang along, Julie shook her head, laughing.

It wasn’t the disdainful laughter she was used to when she listened to his music, though.

It was genuine, joyful laughter.

She even started to sing along.

“And rise through the night, you and I, we will fight to shine together, bright forever!”

If it was even possible, Luke’s smile grew even wider.

“Damn, Julie, your voice is amazing! You’re gonna rock the Orpheum competition!”

She flushed, looking down at her lap. When Julie looked back up, they were pulling into a parking lot and she caught sight of a sign.

“You’re joking. You have to be!” she exclaimed, turning to him.

“Let’s go,” he said, getting out of the car.

Julie followed him up the path, gazing up at the Hollywood sign looming over them.

“It’s incredible!” she said, brushing her hair back with her fingers as the wind caught it. When she glanced sideways, Luke was watching her, an eyebrow arched. “What?”

“Nothing,” he replied, untying the bandana and carding his fingers through his hair. “Just enjoying the view.”

“You must see this all the time, though,” Julie said, turning back to look at the sign. “I would have thought you were used to it.”

“Nah,” Luke said, stepping closer to her and slinging his arm over her shoulders. “I couldn’t ever get used to it.”

Julie grinned, ever-so-slightly leaning against him. “Picture time?”

He nodded. “Picture time. Go ahead.”

She pulled away from him, walking a few paces ahead and turning, posing with one hand up in her hair, elbow raised, and her other hand on her hip.

“Looking good, Julie!” Luke called, taking the photo. He then joined her, holding up the camera to take a selfie.

“Wait,” Julie said, turning and setting her hands on his shoulder, then resting her chin on her hands. “Now you can do it.”

He chuckled, pressing the shutter. The camera flashed, and she stepped away.

“Let’s go,” he said, nodding over at a large group of tourists walking towards them with their cameras raised.

Julie nodded, letting Luke take her hand and lead her back down to Petunia. While they were driving, they both sang along to the radio at the top of their lungs. Julie stuck her hand out the open window, letting the breeze flow around it, and glanced sideways as the song started to fade.

“This has been the most perfect day,” she breathed, leaning back against her seat. They were pretty much in the middle of nowhere, on the highway heading back into the city. By now, Luke guessed the paparazzi would have left Malibu, so it would be safe to head back so Julie could go home.

Weird. She wasn’t sure how she felt about going home, not after the day they had shared.

Luke was about to reply, but something he saw in the rearview mirror stopped him.

“What is it?” Julie asked, frowning.

“Not anymore,” he replied, nodding behind them. Julie twisted in her seat and saw the black vans following them.

“Come on!” Luke groaned, slapping the wheel.

“Don’t take it out on Petunia,” Julie admonished him, reaching for the glovebox to grab the scarf from earlier in the day.

“They always ruin everything.” Luke leaned forward, scanning the road ahead. “We have to lose them.”

Julie dropped the scarf, grabbing for the map on the dashboard instead. “I think there’s a side road up ahead that loops back around,” she said, scanning the map. “Yeah, it’s that one up there.”

“You sure about that?”

“Of course I’m sure. Doubting my skills at reading maps?”

Luke laughed. “Just checking. I don’t think we have cell service out here, so we have to be careful.”

Julie rolled her eyes. “Turn there.”

They turned down the road (although it was more of a dirt path), and thankfully, they had just come around a bend in the road. The path quickly was swallowed by trees on either side, shielding them from the road, and as Julie glanced back, the vans drove past. It had worked. They had no idea where the pink car had disappeared to. Luke continued driving, although the road was riddled with bumps and holes, and they were jostled from side to side. It was nothing Petunia couldn’t handle, though.

“Okay, now we just have to keep following this road--”

“Path.”

Julie hit him on the shoulder. “Follow the  _ road _ , and we should be…” she peered closer at the map.

“What? Julie? What’s wrong?”

She shushed him, scanning the map carefully.

“Seriously, Julie--”

“Shut up! I’m… I’m not sure… I think we might have… possibly… taken the wrong road?” She glanced over at him meekly.

Luke’s jaw dropped and he slammed the brakes, causing both of them to lurch forward. “What!?”

Julie grimaced. “I think the road I was looking at was, um… the next right? Not this one?”

Luke groaned and hit the wheel three times in rapid succession. “So, where are we?”

“I… don’t know?”

“Julie…”

“I don’t think this road--”

“Path.”

“--is on the map,” she finished, sheepishly.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Julie huffed, continuing to stare at the map. “I’m sure this one will loop around eventually, too. Just keep going.”

After a moment, Luke sighed, driving on. As they drove, it quickly became apparent that the road was leading further off into the middle of nowhere.

“The last sign said deer crossing, but I don’t see any deer,” Luke said, glancing at her.

“You complain more than Carrie does,” Julie retorted, staring out the window. “Just--”

“Keep going, I know,” Luke interrupted, a light chuckle escaping his lips. “Would you just let me look at the map for one second?” He turned to her, reaching for it.

“Keep your eyes on the road,” Julie squeaked, clutching the map closer. “I’m the navigator.”

“Right, because you’ve done such a good job of it already,” Luke retorted, chuckling.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Julie rolled her eyes, meeting his gaze.

“You’re such a know-it-all, you know? The queen of snap judgements. We wouldn’t even be in this mess if you had just--”

“Just what? What, Luke? You’re the one who practically kidnapped me,  _ twice in two days _ just to avoid the paparazzi!”

“Oh,  _ turn here, Luke, this is the right road, I’m sure of it! _ ” Luke quipped in a high pitched voice.

“I  _ was _ sure of it!”

“Right, because you’re always so sure of everything--”

“I am  _ not _ !” Julie was so worked up that she needed something to do with her hands, so she began braiding a section of her hair as she argued with him.

Luke scoffed. “And defensive.”

“Why’d you stop the car!” Julie suddenly pointed out, leaning forward.

“What?” He leaned forward, pressing on the gas pedal. The tires spun, but they didn’t move. Julie watched as globs of mud flew up on either side of them.

“Wait a second,” she said, leaning out the window. Beside her, Luke did the same thing.

The first thing she noticed was that they were definitely not on solid ground. The next thing she noticed was that the wheels of the car were half sunk in the mud. The car lurched backwards, then, and Julie shrieked, grabbing the door.

“We’re sinking!” Luke shouted, scrambling to open the door on his side. “Quick, get on top of the car!”

Julie did the same, climbing up, slapping away Luke’s hand as he tried to help her. “Don’t touch me!”

“What’s gotten into you?” he asked, standing up on top of the car next to her.

“Oh, where do I start?” Julie retorted.

“Hey, turning onto this road wasn’t my idea!”

“You’re blaming me?! You’re a terrible driver!”

“My driving has nothing to do with this! It was your terrible navigating skills!”

Julie let out a loud groan of frustration, turning away from him, nearly losing her balance on the smooth metal. Luke’s hand shot out, grabbing her wrist, and she groaned again, sliding down the windshield and standing up on the hood of the car that was already nearly at ground level in the sinkhole.

“What are you doing?” Luke asked, behind her.

“What do you think? I’m jumping!” Julie shouted back, measuring the distance with her eyes before launching herself towards solid ground. She landed on the dirt path with a grunt, rolling onto her side and pushing herself up. Luke was still on top of the car, looking this way and that. The car was making squelching noises as it settled in the mud, and she cringed, thinking about how her tia was going to be so upset.

“Just jump!” she shouted.

“Weren’t you the one always shouting at me not to tell you what to do?” Luke retorted, before finally taking a few steps and jumping off the car, landing near her. When he got up, they watched from the edge of the muddy water as the car settled low in the sinkhole with one final squelch.

“You killed Petunia!” Julie shrieked, forgetting herself and taking a half step forward. Solid ground disappeared from under her as she slipped and fell into the mud.

“Julie!” Luke shouted.

Her mouth was full of muddy water, and Julie thrashed about, trying to find her footing. Luke’s hand found hers and pulled her back up onto solid ground. As soon as she could stand, though, she tugged her hand away and wiped the mud from her face.

“Ugh!” she grunted, turning and kicking at the dirt. “That was my tia’s car, and she’s gonna… UGH!”

The riff to “Now or Never” started playing, but to Julie’s immense annoyance, Luke didn’t answer it. Instead, he kept stepping forward, his hands slightly raised, as if he was going to help her try to wipe the mud from her skin and clothing.

“Answer your phone!” Julie snapped, walking away from him.

And to think, she had considered this a perfect day earlier.

= = = = =

Luke honestly didn’t understand Julie one bit. One moment, they were laughing, singing, having a good time, but the next? She was screaming at him, and they were stuck in a sinkhole.

His phone kept ringing, and when she snapped at him, he jumped. “Right,” he said, reaching into his pocket where his phone was, mercifully, untouched by the water.

According to the caller ID, it was Alex, so Luke answered it, marvelling at the fact that he actually had service.

“Hey, man,” he said, trying to sound nonchalant, like there wasn’t a girl going stark raving mad nearby. “How’s it going?”

“Dude, Reggie and I have been texting you all day. Where have you been? You disappeared last night after we played for that kid. And what was Caleb Covington doing there? I saw Trevor take you over to talk to him, but then he wouldn’t let Reggie or I talk to him at all. What’s going on?”

Luke blanched. “Look, I wish I could tell you but--”

“But what? We promised we’d never keep secrets from each other, Luke,” Alex interrupted, clearly frustrated. In the background, Luke could hear Reggie chime up.

“Is that Luke? Did you reach him? Did he get kidnapped by some crazed fan who wants to hold him for ransom until we release our new song?”

“Reg… I… okay…” Alex breathed. Luke could almost see the look of pure bewilderment on his friend’s face, and knew it likely matched his own.

“Listen, when I get back to the mansion, I’ll tell you guys everything. Promise.”

There was a long pause. So long, in fact, Luke checked to make sure the call hadn’t been dropped.

“Okay. Just… I’m not entirely cool with you holding out on us, you know that, right?” Alex sounded disappointed, and Luke sighed.

“You know I’d never lie to you,” he said, glancing up as the dulcet sounds of Julie raving about losing her aunt’s car started to draw closer. “Look, I have to go. I should be back tonight. I had to crash somewhere else last night because the paparazzi kept tailing me,” he said quickly, as Julie came into view.

“Yeah, okay,” Alex breathed, although he didn’t sound convinced. “Get back here soon. Trevor was asking where you were, and I can only make up so many decent excuses before Reggie gets a word in.”

Luke chuckled. “See you soon,” he said, before hanging up the phone. “Are you done?” he asked Julie, tilting his head to the side. She had stopped mumbling to herself and was standing with her hands on her hips, glaring at him.

“I am going to be in  _ so _ much trouble!” she grumbled, reaching in her bag and pulling out her phone. “Ugh, how did you have service and I don’t?”

“I… I don’t know, but really… what’s done is done,” Luke replied, folding his arms in front of him. “Come on, we should probably--”

“Do what, exactly?” She tilted her head, and Luke found himself missing the easy-going, carefree Julie he had spent most of the day with.

“Try to find our way to the shoreline. Then we can follow it back to Malibu,” he offered.

Julie was quiet for a moment. Then, she shrugged. “Fine.” Then she glanced down. “My clothes… ugh, when we get out of this, you’re paying for these to be dry-cleaned.”

Luke scoffed. “I’m paying for it right now,” he said drily, although it fell on deaf ears as Julie stormed off ahead of him.

He was sorely reminded of that second car ride as they started to walk along the dirt path, leaving the car behind. Julie was stonily silent, except for when she mumbled to herself about how much trouble she was going to be in, and Luke kept his arms folded in front of him.

When the silence started to get to him, he took a few bounding steps forward and turned around to face her. She stopped short, looking up at him, her hair still damp and her face still sporting a small streak of mud.

It was somehow adorable.

“What?” she asked, pressing her lips together. At least she didn’t seem as tightly wired as she had been earlier, he thought.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, twisting his hands together.

“Oh, now you’re concerned?” she replied, scornfully.

“What is it with you, anyway? I thought we were having fun earlier, and now…” he trailed off, twisting his hands together.

“Why are you like this?”

“Like what?”

She groaned. “Like…” she gestured at him. “Like that.”

“You just gestured at all of me,” he commented, the corner of his lip turning up. “You’ll have to be more specific.”

“You can be so… infuriating one moment, and then you turn on that stupid charm and expect everything to work out.” She looked away from him, huffing.

“Ah, so you think I’m charming?” he asked.

“That’s the part you latched onto?” Julie rolled her eyes. “That’s exactly what I mean. You think you can get whatever you want, just by smiling at me.” She started walking again.

“You know, that’s not exactly fair of you,” Luke retorted, walking backwards in front of her. “You’ve known me for a day. That’s what I was talking about earlier, with those snap judgements of yours.”

“Sorry I don’t fawn over you like all of your fans,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself.

“But you were having fun earlier,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but…”

“But?” He felt like they were going around in circles, and it was starting to tire him out. “Julie, what do you want?”

“I just want to get home to my tia, explain where I was all day, suffer the consequences, then go back to the hotel and get ready for that stupid music competition,” she snapped, pushing past him. “Besides, we were just playing pretend today, right? You’re a rock star, and this is all going to be over in a bit.”

He jogged to catch up with her. “Is that really all you think this is? Julie, I have had…  _ so much _ fun today. There’s been no reporters, no cameras, no interviews, no crowds… I’ve been able to be myself, for the first time in years!”

Julie stopped short and he nearly ran into her. “I’m glad you’re having fun, but I’m really just--”

“Just what? Why is this so hard for you, anyway?” He tugged the bandana off his head and balled it in his hands, turning away from her. “Like I said, I’ve been having a great time, and I just want to enjoy it!”

As he walked away from her, huffing, he heard her call out behind him. “And this just proves my point about you.”

He turned back. “What?”

“You don’t get what you want, so you throw a fit and walk away?” Julie said, her voice going shrill. “Do you expect your friends to chase after you or something? To pity you just because one random girl from Michigan thinks you’re not as great as you think you are?”

“I wish my friends were here right now,” he blurted out, turning around and spreading his arms wide. “Then, maybe there’d be someone here who actually gets what it’s like to be me. To want to enjoy some peace and quiet in the middle of nowhere with no paparazzi.” Luke marched up to her. “You know, I really thought we were getting to know each other back there. I thought maybe, just maybe you were finally coming around and seeing me for who I really am. But you’re just as judgemental as ever, and I’m the fool for spending two days thinking about nothing but you.” It slipped out before he could stop himself, and Luke mentally berated himself for it.

Julie blinked, taking a step back. It took her a moment to respond, but when she did, she was just as fired up as she had been a moment ago. “Thinking about me? You mean, when you hit me with a door, hid in my tia’s house, kidnapped me, and wrecked Petunia, you were just… being thoughtful?”

Luke let out a frustrated groan, brushing past her with his hands on his head. “Wow, there is  _ no _ getting through to you, is there?  _ Why _ don’t you like me?”

“Because you act like you’re entitled to people liking you,” Julie said, and it cut through Luke like a bullet. He turned back towards her, breathing in through his nose. She shrugged. “You think everyone likes you.”

“That’s just because I’m likable,” Luke argued.

She was having none of it. “It’s because you’re a star. You’re just like Carrie, acting like you deserve the highest praise and adoring fans just because you’re talented. Because you get up there in front of thousands of people and perform.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” he asked, confused. “You’re a performer, too, aren’t you? It’s why you’re here.”

“I didn’t want to be here in the first place!” Julie said, walking towards him, forcing him to back up as she stared him down. “I begged Mrs Harrison to give my spot to someone else, and she made me come. Meanwhile, you just expect people to like you, just because you’re a star.”

“I have no idea what you’re even talking about,” Luke said, shaking his head.

She poked him in the chest. “Your life isn’t real. You have fancy parties, you throw your money around like it’s nothing… you even live in a mansion! And you fantasize about spending the day in the middle of freaking nowhere! That’s not normal! Your biggest worry is whether or not people with cameras are going to find you and take your picture!”

He stammered, trying to come up with a retort, and Julie nodded. “That’s all I’m saying.”

For a moment, they were staring at each other, both breathing heavily. After a moment, Luke huffed.

“You know, I think I was wrong about you before?”

“Oh yeah?” Julie asked. “About what?”

He shrugged. “I think you’re just afraid to let people in. You push people away so you can live in your own sad, lonely bubble.” Now he was on a roll, and the tables were turned as he noticed Julie’s face fall. “You want to talk about how my life isn’t real? At least I have my friends. They’re the only family I need!”

Tears sprang to her eyes. “Screw you, Luke,” she said, shoving him away from her.

Except neither of them had noticed that she had backed him up against some reeds, and her shove threw him off balance, toppling backwards, through the reeds, and into the pond behind them. Luke let out a shout, his arms flailing as he hit the water. Thankfully, he recovered quickly, just in time to hear Julie crying out his name. He grabbed the reeds, using them to yank himself up out of the water.

Julie was staring at him, wide-eyed. He could almost detect… concern?

Interesting. After the way she had been spitting vitriol at him, he had half-expected her to be happy about his little tumble.

“Are you--”

He didn’t let her finish that sentence. After everything, all Luke wanted was to go back to before, when they had laughed and enjoyed their day driving around Hollywood.

So he grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back into the water. Julie gave a cry of protest but Luke ignored it, laughing as he moved away from her. The pond was just deep enough that he was treading water, although he quickly remembered that Julie was shorter than him.

“I can’t swim!” she cried out, her arms flailing.

Luke blanched. “Oh, shit!” He moved back towards her, ready to grab her, to help her to dry land.

And then she stopped thrashing about in the water and started giggling. Luke had only a moment’s warning, catching the tiniest glint in her eye, before Julie was splashing him.

“Hey!” he shouted, splashing her back.

The tension diffused, they dissolved into giggles, splashing each other until the mud from the sinkhole was gone.

He almost missed the little smear on her cheek.

Luke pulled himself up onto dry land, extending a hand down to help her up.

“Hey, look. I’m sorry about before,” he said, smiling when she actually accepted his help. “I was out of line, and I didn’t mean it.”

“It’s fine,” Julie replied, twisting the edge of her shirt and squeezing, wringing out some of the water.

Luke tried not to eye the exposed strip of skin on her waist, he really did. Instead, he shrugged off his cardigan and hung it over a tree branch to dry.

“It’s not,” he said, running his fingers through his hair. “I shouldn’t have said all of that.”

“And I shouldn’t have said what I did,” she replied, shrugging. “I guess I’m just… really stressed over everything.”

He nodded. “The competition?” He sat down on the ground, patting the space next to him. Much to his delight, she sat next to him.

Julie gave a long sigh. “That, yeah. I just… I really don’t want to do it.”

He frowned. She truly was a confusing girl. “Why not?”

Julie let out a breath. “I haven’t performed since my mom passed away. I auditioned for the competition before,” she explained, staring down at her lap.

“Shit, Julie… I’m really sorry.”

“It’s fine,” she said quickly, “I’m going to… I have to do this. And I’m tired of people feeling sorry for me.”

Luke sat still for a moment, staring down at the water rippling in the light breeze. Without thinking about it, he pulled the red bandana out of his pocket and held it out to her. He didn’t turn, not when she took it from him, not when he heard a light sniffle, then a sob. After a moment, he slowly, carefully put his arm around her shoulder.

“I miss her,” Julie whispered, tucking her head against his shoulder. “And I’m just… constantly on edge. All the time. And this competition…”

“It’s high stakes,” Luke cut in, rubbing her shoulder with his thumb. “I get it.”

“Everyone’s expecting me to be amazing, but I just don’t know if I can do it,” she mumbled, heaving a sigh.

Luke frowned. “Look, I know I don’t know you but… if I’ve learned anything, I know you’re determined. Scarily so.” She gave a weak chuckle at that, and he grinned. “I’m sure you’ll be great. In fact… I’ll be there, cheering you on.”

Julie scoffed at that. “Don’t you have important band business to take care of? And aren’t you trying to  _ avoid _ paparazzi?”

“It’d be worth it.” He leaned back on his hands, staring up at the sky. “I wish we could stay here forever, though. Where no one can find me.”

Julie sat up, pulling away from him. “Why?” she asked.

“Everyone out there… they all want something from me. I’m always doing people favours, giving them what they want. Trevor’s the closest thing I have to a dad right now, and really, he just cares about the business.” He sighed. “All Alex, Reggie and I ever wanted to do was make music. Trevor made that happen for us, and then we became a commodity.”

Julie was watching him, a thoughtful expression on her face.

“And then… he goes and gets me this movie deal, this totally amazing opportunity, and I can’t even share it with the two guys I care about more than anything.”

“Wait… what?” She squinted at him.

Luke let out a breath. “Trevor made me audition secretly for something, and it turned out to be for a Caleb Covington movie. That’s why I needed to stay away from the paparazzi. It’s the chance of a lifetime, except I’m not allowed to tell Alex or Reggie. And that bites, you know?”

She nodded slowly, and he continued. “Those guys have been there with me through thick and thin. From me running out on my parents, to playing outside clubs, begging for a gig. When Trevor discovered us, we were on cloud nine. It’s been… the time of my life.” He smiled, thinking back over the memories. “I just wish this movie deal wasn’t hanging over it all. I feel like the guys won’t ever forgive me for keeping it from them. But Trevor _ really _ wants me to take the deal.”

Julie was silent for a moment, and Luke worried that he had said the wrong thing, that she was going to explode on him again for talking about his perfect rock star life.

“Do you want the movie deal?” she asked, finally.

Luke shrugged. “I mean, I have to take it. Like I said, it’s a huge opportunity.”

“But do you want it?”

“I…”

“What about the tour?” She leaned towards him, her brow furrowed.

“What about it?”

“It’s a huge deal, right? What was it, 10 countries? A million screaming fans?”

Luke shrugged. “I guess… I’ll just do them both at the same time. And deal with the fallout from Alex and Reggie while I do.”

“That seems like a lot.”

He stood up, turning away from her. “I don’t have a choice.”

“Everyone has a choice,” she said, rising to her feet and putting her hand on his shoulder. “What do you want to do?”

Luke hesitated. What did he want? “I… I want to make my…  _ our _ fans happy. They’re the ones who got us where we are. We’d be nothing without our fans. I don’t want to disappoint anyone, so I guess I just never say no. Now or never, right?” He chuckled, and Julie joined in.

He turned to face her, brushing her hair back out of her face. They stood in silence for another long moment before Julie cleared her throat, taking a step backwards.

“Maybe I don’t understand. Your life, I mean. It really does sound exhausting. Everything you say and do is just so… public.”

He shrugged. “I’m used to it. And I wouldn’t have gotten this far without the guys.”

Julie nodded. “Not for nothing, but if you’re all as close as you say you are, I don’t think you have to worry about them. They’ll understand. It might hurt at first, but true friends don’t let things like that get between you.”

“I guess you’re right,” he said, pausing for a moment. “Also… not everything in my life is public. Right now? Us? Here? I feel like I’m finally myself.”

“And how do you feel about that?” she asked.

“Honestly? Amazing.” Luke smiled. “You’re really something, Julie. This is… an interesting little relationship you and I have, hm?”

Her cheeks tinted pink and he chuckled, turning to face the pond. “I like it too,” Julie said, quietly.

Luke grinned, putting his hands behind his head. “Tell me something about yourself.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Something no one else knows."

Julie thought for a moment, her finger against her chin, and Luke watched her. Watched the way her eyes drifted from side to side, then lit up when she finally thought of something.

“I’ve always wanted to learn how to play the fiddle.”

Luke laughed. “Reggie would love that. He’s wanted us to record a country song for a while, now. Apparently, he shreds on the banjo, though Alex and I haven’t heard this skill of his.”

Julie laughed, and it was infectious. Luke started to laugh too, gazing across at her.

“Admit it, Julie,” he said, leaning forward. “You like me.”

She poked him in the chest. “You wish.”

Their eyes locked and Luke felt himself leaning even closer to her, a soft smile on his lips. She mirrored his expression, her hand itching towards his.

The spell broke and she blinked, turning her head to the side. “We should get going. It’s getting late, and Carrie and my tia are probably worried sick about me.”

Luke cleared his throat, turning away and grabbing his cardigan from the tree branch. “Right. Let’s go. It shouldn’t be too far, now. Let’s go.”

Julie smiled at him, reaching for his hand as they started walking down the path.

It wasn’t long before they finally emerged out onto the beach. The breeze was cool, and Luke had his arm around Julie’s shoulder as they walked along the sand.

“And that’s how Reggie and I knew that Alex and Willie were meant to be,” he said, waving his free hand in the air.

Julie raised her eyebrows, grinning and nodding. “That’s so sweet. Carrie and her friends are obsessed with that relationship, you know. They call it Willex.”

Luke let out a bark of laughter. “What? No way, that’s hilarious! Willie would love it.”

“Willie seems like a great guy,” Julie said, playing with her still-damp hair. “How’s he handling the whole celebrity thing?”

He shrugged. “Honestly, he’s kind of a natural at it. It’s good for Alex, though. His anxiety flares up at big events, but Willie grounds him.”

Julie nodded. “That’s amazing. It’s good that he has someone like that.”

Luke hummed in response, squinting at something up ahead. “Hey, I think we’re almost there. Good thing too, my feet are about to fall off.”

Julie giggled, ducking out from under his arm and turning to face him. “You know, despite everything, I had a really great time today. And you’d better remember to come to the competition,” she said, giving him a stern look.

He held his hands up in surrender. “Of course, wouldn’t miss it for the world. You know, you’re so different from every girl I’ve ever known.”

“Different, how?”

“Refreshing. Like I said, people tend to ask me for things all the time. You don’t do that. In fact, you say the things to me that everyone else is too afraid to say. Like the fact that I’m, what was it? Entitled?”

She snorted. “I’m just keeping it real,” she said, shrugging. “But you’re different too. I thought you were just another spoiled Hollywood brat, but you… you care so much.”

Luke smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s a side of me not a lot of people really know.”

Julie patted his shoulder. “Also, you’re a terrible driver.”

“Oh, and now I’m wounded,” he said, laughing.

Julie laughed with him, and he noticed the way her eyes sparkled in the faint glow of the setting sun.

“You’re amazing, Julie,” he said. He needed her to know.  _ Needed _ .

After a long pause, she smiled. “You’re amazing, too.”

His heart fluttered, and Luke knew in that moment that he needed to kiss her. Needed to let her know just how amazing she was to him. He leaned towards her, his hand on her arm, and she leaned in, gazing up into his eyes.

Three things happened in rapid succession. A black van drove past on the highway alongside the beach, a group of beach-goers stepped out from behind a rock formation, chatting away, and a nearby boombox started playing a Sunset Curve song. Luke pulled away, grabbing the collar of his cardigan and pulling it up, covering his face.

“Get down!” he hissed, ducking behind a rock.

Julie followed him, her eyes following his motions as he tied the bandana back around his hair. Reality came crashing down, and Luke grimaced.

“What’s wrong?” Julie asked, peering at him.

“That was close,” he replied, trying to play it off with a chuckle. “Almost got caught, there.”

She was staring at him with a confused look on her face, and Luke stammered, trying to come up with the words to explain what to happen.

“You know what has to happen now, right? We’re back in the real world. Back in the world where I have to avoid the paparazzi. And if there’s one thing they like, it’s seeing a celebrity with an unknown girl.”

Julie frowned. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying… I’ll still come see you perform, but this… us… we can’t see each other again. It’s for your own good, really,” Luke said, swallowing a lump that was slowly rising in his throat. “This ends, now.”

“What does?”

“Us. You can’t tell anyone about today. Not your aunt, not your friends…”

Julie was watching him with an expression he could best equate with a hurt puppy. “Luke…”

“I mean it,” he said, waving his hands. “If we get photographed together, or if someone hears you talking about me… your life is going to change. And it won’t be for the better. It’ll be crazy, and I’ll miss out on my movie deal.” Her expression shifted, and he tried to backpedal. “Look, I’m not trying to--”

“Not trying to what?” Julie asked, taking a step back. “What, Luke? Why would it be crazy?”

“I’m Luke Patterson of Sunset Curve, and you’re just an ordinary girl,” he blurted out, clapping his hands together. “I’m just trying to protect you.”

There was a long, pregnant pause. Then Julie shook her head, turning on her heels.

“Wow. One minute I’m amazing, and now I’m just… well fine. Goodbye, Luke,” she said, walking away from him.

“W-wait!” Luke called out, following her. “What--”

“I said goodbye,” she said, not looking back.

“Julie, wait!” Luke repeated, grabbing at her arm. She tugged away, spinning back around.

“I’m just an ordinary girl, huh? Who needs protecting from the big scary world of Hollywood? News flash, Luke. I’m about to perform in the biggest high school music competition in the country!” she snapped, her eyes brimming with tears. “So I’m sorry if you’re embarrassed to be seen with me, but if that’s the way it’s going to be, then I might as well go. Good riddance.”

“I’m not embarrassed of you,” Luke exclaimed, trying to sort out where this was all coming from. “I just don’t want you to get caught up in the celebrity mess.”

“I don’t need your protection!” Julie retorted, turning away. “I’ve made it this far on my own.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Then what did you mean?”

“You’re normal,” Luke said, imploring her with his eyes to understand. “I want you to stay that way.”

“And what about what I want?” Julie clapped back, her cheeks now wet with tears. “I thought you of all people would understand how important it is to have your own say in things.”

“It’s not like that!”

“Just stop, Luke. It’s over, like you said. You wanted this, so it’s over.  _ Goodbye _ .” She turned, marching off.

“Julie, wait!”

“What!?”

Luke rubbed the back of his neck. “The camera. The pictures. I should probably--”

Julie turned, scoffing. “You want--” She cut herself off, digging in her bag and throwing the disposable camera at her feet. “There. There’s nothing about today I’d want to remember, anyway.”

Luke watched helplessly as Julie stormed off, stunned into silence. The distinctive click of a camera shutter broke the silence, and he cleared his throat.

“Shit,” he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. His fingers came away damp, and he groaned.

“It’s Luke!” a high-pitched female voice rang out, and suddenly he was surrounded by girls, all begging for photos and autographs. Luke quickly steeled himself, falling back into character and cheerfully interacting with the fans, all the while scanning the distance for any sign of Julie.

Nothing.

He had really screwed up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I directly quoted a line each from "Now or Never" and "Bright" in this chapter, so this is a friendly disclaimer that I do not own those songs. I also lifted a bit of dialogue from the movie Starstruck (the iconic lines).
> 
> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos make my day!


	4. Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, the last chapter! Thank you for sticking with this fic to the end... this is officially my first ever completed multichapter fic!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!
> 
> Warning: There is a depiction of an anxiety attack early in this chapter, in Luke’s first POV section.

The pictures hit the gossip magazines that night.

After walking away from Luke, Julie had continued walking until she had service on her phone and called Victoria. As soon as she spoke, as soon as her aunt could hear the choked up emotion in her voice, Victoria had begged her to explain what had happened. Julie refused.

As much as she hated Luke Patterson in that moment, hated the celebrity culture that had led to him breaking her heart in that moment on the beach, she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. The truth of the matter was that she hated the celebrity culture so much that she couldn’t bear the thought of saying anything that would ruin him even more than he had already ruined her. And if that meant hiding the truth of the day from everyone, then so be it.

Julie would shoulder the burden alone.

Victoria drove out in her second, newer car almost immediately and picked up a crying Julie from the beach.

“Mija, please… just tell me what happened?” she said, her voice uncharacteristically soft and concerned.

Julie only shook her head, staring out the window. “I’m so sorry about Petunia,” she said, fighting the sob rising in her throat.

“Oh, I’m not thinking about that old thing, mija,” Victoria replied. “I just want to know that you’re okay.”

Julie half-heartedly told her aunt she was fine, but even she knew it wasn’t convincing. When they arrived home, Carrie was perched on the arm of the couch, bouncing up when she saw them walking in.

“Julie!” she blurted, holding up her phone. “That’s you, right?”

Victoria tutted, but Julie took the phone from Carrie, peering down. The photo was shot from a distance, but her curly hair was unmistakable. Tears rose to her eyes again as she realized the photo had been taken just before everything had turned south, when she had been so sure that Luke was about to kiss her. Everything about their body language screamed affection, from the way his hand rested against her arm, to the way her head was tilted up, leaning towards him.

Julie wanted to be sick. But with the way Carrie was staring her down, the way Victoria was watching her carefully, she couldn’t do it.

“I don’t know,” she said finally, brushing past Carrie and heading to her room. She spent the rest of the evening there, her door closed, turning Luke’s sunglasses over in her hands, ignoring Carrie and Victoria every time they tried to get her to come out, avoiding the internet entirely.

Her phone vibrated, but Julie ignored it. It buzzed once, twice, three more times, and finally she groaned. When she picked it up, the lock screen lit up with messages from Flynn.

**_Disappointment:_ ** _ “Hey, stay off social media tonight, people are being jerks” _

**_Disappointment:_ ** _ “You okay?” _

**_Disappointment:_ ** _ “Hey underachiever, answer your phone” _

**_Disappointment:_ ** _ “Julie Molina I stg if you don’t answer me this instant I will fly down to LA myself to start the search party” _

Julie let out a puff of air, quickly tapping out a reply.

**_Underachiever:_ ** _ “Call off the search party” _

Flynn’s reply was instant.

**_Disappointment:_ ** _ “Call me” _

Julie obliged, tapping the Facetime icon. After a single ring, Flynn answered, her face appearing on the screen. She was lying on her bed, wrapped up in a blanket.

“Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” Flynn said, pulling her braids over one shoulder and leaning forward, propping herself up on her elbows while she rested her phone presumably against her pillow.

Julie managed a weak smile. “You’re one to talk. Isn’t it like midnight for you? What are you still doing up?”

“Someone has to keep tabs on Carrie and her posse,” Flynn said, rolling her eyes.

“Wait, you still have that dummy account?”

“Of course I do. And they still have no clue it’s me. Earlier they were all screaming about photos that… may or may not involve you?”

Julie groaned, flopping back on her bed.

“That bad, huh?”

“I can’t talk about it,” Julie said, clapping her free hand to her forehead while she held her phone up. “So please, don’t ask.”

Flynn’s expression shifted. “We don’t keep secrets, Julie. You know I won’t tell a soul.”

“I know,” she replied, biting her lip. “I just… I can’t say anything.”

Her best friend frowned, and Julie immediately felt guilty.

Curse Luke Patterson for putting her in this awful position, for making her lie to her best friend.

“Look, I’m fine, I promise. And as for the photos… you know anything can be doctored these days. Someone’s just trying to get their five seconds of fame in Hollywood.”

Flynn peered at her suspiciously, but eventually relented. “Fine. I’ll be watching the show tomorrow, remember. I know you’re worried about it, but… you’ll be fine.”

“Flynn…”

“No, let me finish.” Flynn wagged a finger at her. “You’ve had a rough couple of months, but if I know anything, it’s that Julie Molina always comes through. You’re gonna rock the competition tomorrow.” It was said with assertion, and Julie almost found herself believing it.

“You’re amazing, you know that?” she said, bringing the phone closer to her face.

Flynn smirked. “I know. Now, get some sleep. You’re going to need it.”

“You too,” Julie added, managing a genuine grin. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Julie hung up, then stared down at her phone. After a moment, she opened up Safari and typed in Luke’s name. In a second, at least ten gossip blog articles popped up on the screen. She tapped on one of them, bringing it up and reading. The picture of her and Luke right before the kiss was at the top, and the headline read “ _ Sunset Curve’s Leading Man Breaks Mystery Girl’s Heart _ ”. She scrolled through the article, intercut with more photos - her walking away from Luke, him grabbing her arm, her walking away with her arms wrapped around her, obviously crying, him standing with a crowd of gaggling girls. The story itself was basic, mostly speculation about what Luke had done to make her cry.

And then she got to the comment section.

**_mrslukepatterson:_** _good move on luke’s part, she’s too ugly for him_

 ** _sunsetswerve:_** _He’s too good for her, anyway. Don’t get involved if you can’t handle the heat_

**_tell_your_friends:_ ** _ She looks too young for him. Grow up, princess. _

Julie dropped her phone on the duvet and grabbed a pillow, screaming into it. Screw Luke Patterson. Screw the gossip blogs.

= = = = =

When Luke was finally able to pull himself away from the screaming fans and find a quiet place to hide, his phone was ringing. He glanced at the caller ID. Trevor. Luke groaned, answering it.

“Hey, Trevor,” he said, trying to sound as sweet as possible despite the overwhelming guilt he was feeling over everything. Over Julie. His manager wasn’t buying it.

“Where the hell are you? Reggie told me some story about you going to a zen resort?”

“I--”

“Caleb called earlier and wanted to speak with you! And I had to make up an excuse for why you weren’t here! You’re killing me here, kid. Killing me! Dr Crystal is going to have a  _ field day _ the next time I see him!” Trevor’s voice had risen to almost a shout and Luke cringed.

“I’m sorry, okay? I just got caught up in some stuff,”  _ God _ , it hurt, reducing what he had shared with Julie to a mere word, “but I’ll be back soon. I promise.”

“You’d better be,” Trevor replied, and Luke could almost see the look on his face. Desperate, not angry. He knew at the end of it all, Trevor cared about him and the boys, saw them as sons. The man had a daughter, of course, although Luke was pretty sure she had been adopted out to a cousin of his. Or so the story went. In any case, Trevor was family, and Luke cared about him just as much as he cared about the band, even if he did get overzealous at times.

“Do you mind sending a car to pick me up? I--”

“I know you lost the other car. It showed up a couple of hours ago, along with a teenage girl who seemed a little too interested in why she suddenly had the keys to one of our cars.” Luke cringed, thankful that Trevor couldn’t see him. “Reggie took her home, though. I’ll send someone over for you.”

“Thanks, man,” Luke said, feigning happiness. All he wanted to do was to go home and flop on his bed and ignore the gossip blogs for the rest of his life. Hopefully, the paparazzi hadn’t seen him and Julie earlier, although anything was possible.

He told Trevor where he was after checking a nearby sign, then hung up. While he waited, he tugged the red bandana off his head and turned it over in his hands, staring down at the fabric.

“You really screwed up,” he muttered to himself, twisting the bandana around his hands, squeezing his eyes shut. As much as he tried, he couldn’t shake the fact that he had messed things up so exponentially that there was no chance Julie would ever forgive him (if he ever saw her again). Hell, he’d probably never forgive himself for it. In one day, he had fallen head over heels for her, for the girl from Michigan who had hated him, yet who shone like the sun. In one day, he had seen her warm up to him, maybe start to like him in return. And in a few short minutes, he had blown it. He had ruined it.

What had he been thinking?

It wasn’t too long before a car pulled up. To Luke’s surprise, Alex was driving, and Reggie was in the passenger seat.

“What are you guys doing?” he asked, climbing in the back.

“Are you kidding? We haven’t seen you all day. Alex nearly wore a new path in the studio from all his pacing,” Reggie quipped.

“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say that,” Alex cut in, his voice rising in pitch before settling back in his normal register. “But we were worried about you, so when Trevor said he had heard from you--”

“We said we’d come find you!” Reggie finished, twisting around in his seat to face Luke.

Luke smiled weakly. “It’s good to see two friendly faces,” he said, absently pulling out his phone. His face fell. It was blowing up with notifications, people telling him to check his social media. He opened Twitter as a feeling of dread washed over him. The first thing he saw was the picture, retweeted constantly. He remembered the moment vividly, his hand on her shoulder, his head tilted towards hers, the waves in the ocean crashing in the distance, before it had all gone so terribly wrong.

“Uh, Luke?” Reggie asked suddenly, holding up his phone. Luke glanced up, only to see the same photo staring back at him.

“Crap,” he muttered, sinking in his seat. “Shit. Shitshitshit. Fuck.”

Reggie was watching him with a deeply concerned expression, and even Alex glanced up at his reflection in the rearview mirror as Luke continued to swear under his breath. He tapped on one of the many articles being sent his way, skimming over it, reading the comments.

“What are you doing?” Alex asked, although his voice sounded far away.

“I…” Luke started, staring down at his phone. “I don’t…”

“Pull over,” Reggie said, although Alex was already doing that, stopping on the shoulder of the highway and putting on the parking brake before twisting around in his seat.

“Luke? Hey, Luke. Look at me.”

Luke couldn’t tear his eyes away from the screen. Couldn’t tear his eyes away from the picture of Julie walking alone on the beach, swiping her hand across her cheek.

He had been an idiot. A complete and total idiot.

He couldn’t breathe.

Alex was still talking, miles away, and Reggie was watching him with wide eyes.

“Luke!”

He blinked, shaking his head. Alex had somehow ended up in the back seat next to him and had slapped his knee.

“Snap out of it!”

“Ow,” Luke complained, rubbing his leg. “Dude, that’s not… you’re not supposed to do that!” Reggie was in the process of climbing over the centre console into the driver’s seat.

Alex tilted his head. “You good?” Luke nodded, getting his breathing under control, and Alex continued. “Now are you going to tell us what happened?”

“Yeah,” Reggie chimed in, meeting Luke’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “Normally it’s Alex we have to worry about when it comes to anxiety.”

“I wasn’t…” Luke mumbled, avoiding Alex’s concerned gaze. “It wasn’t anxiety.”

“It was,” Alex and Reggie said in unison.

“I should know,” Alex added.

Luke shrugged, glancing down at his phone, still in his hand. “It’s been a crazy day.”

And then he told them. Told them the entire story, from the moment he had first met Julie (“I was there!” Reggie chimed in), to taking her to the hospital, to hiding her in the mansion, to his night at Casa de la Tia, to the beach, to exploring Hollywood with her. It was if the floodgates had opened, and he was telling them about how Julie had smiled at him while they were eating tacos. How she had tossed her hair just so before taking a picture next to one of the stars on the Walk of Fame. He told them about how she had nudged him, pointing out another busker before grabbing his hand and leading him over.

At some point, Reggie started driving again and Alex remained in the back seat with Luke as he continued rambling on. Neither of his bandmates said a word, instead letting him talk. Luke told them about the stupid dirt path and losing Petunia. He told them about walking with Julie, arguing with Julie, and swimming with Julie. The conversation after that, he kept private, but he told them about the walk to the beach.

“And then I fucked it all up,” he said, sinking back against his seat.

“Language,” Reggie piped up.

“What happened?” Alex prodded, his expression unreadable.

“The paparazzi showed up and I spooked. I told her it was over. That we couldn’t see each other again.”

“Oohh,” Reggie breathed, glancing back at a red light. “Yeah, you really did screw up.”

“Reg!” Alex hissed. Reggie held his hands up in surrender before starting to drive again.

“I really did screw up, though,” Luke groaned, carding his fingers through his hair and telling them about the argument on the beach, ending with the gossip blogs.

As they pulled up to Trevor’s mansion, Alex reached across, putting a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “It’ll be fine. The gossip will blow over, and things will go back to normal.”

“Yeah, and I’m sure once we go on tour and you meet all the screaming, adoring fans, you’ll forget all about that girl,” Reggie piped up as they walked into the mansion.

Luke quickened his pace, changing direction and heading towards the studio. He heard Reggie say “ow!” and Alex say “really?” before he disappeared behind the door. His guitar was resting in the corner and he made a beeline for it, picking it up and sitting on the couch. He started playing, playing anything that came to mind. At first it was the entire Sunset Curve repertoire, then it was anything that came to mind. He played until his fingers bled, and then played some more, until he had to change guitar picks. He sang, staring at the wall, adamantly trying not to think about Julie.

He didn’t notice Trevor had entered the room until there was a lull in between songs he had half-written. The manager cleared his throat and Luke glanced up at him.

“I was just on the phone with Caleb,” he said, sitting on a stool opposite him. “He’s not happy about the gossip blogs.”

“Right,” Luke said dully, sinking down the couch. “So I lost the movie deal? It was all for nothing?”

Trevor shook his head. “He said it’s possible to fix things. You just need to make it go away.”

“How?” Luke asked, strumming a random chord on his guitar.

“Go on live tomorrow. Make a statement. Say you have no idea who this girl is, and that there’s nothing going on.”

Luke's fingers slipped and he played a dissonant chord. “So, more lies?”

Trevor shrugged. “That’s the business, kid.”

He missed when it was about the music. About sharing his love of music with the world with Alex and Reggie at his side. Now, it was all about the business, about the money. About pleasing the sponsors.

Luke wanted to scream.

Instead, he nodded slowly. “Right. So I’ll go on live tomorrow morning. Get this cleared up.”

“Attaboy,” Trevor said, grinning. “Now, get some rest. I’ve booked you guys to open at the Orpheum Music Competition tomorrow. It’ll be a nice callback to your beginnings.”

_ Shit _ . So much for trying to put the past behind him and move on. Luke offered a weak smile. “Sounds great. Thanks, Trevor.”

= = = = =

When Julie woke up the next morning, she felt only marginally better. Still, though, she dragged herself out of bed and slowly made her way downstairs. Carrie was lying across the couch, scrolling on her phone, and Victoria was nowhere in sight.

“Mrs Harrison is bringing the girls here,” Carrie said, swinging her legs off the couch and sitting up. “Since we’re closer to the Orpheum. You never told me your aunt had such a nice place.”

Julie shrugged, heading to the kitchen to grab a muffin and some juice. Carrie followed her, leaning against the counter.

“So, you ever gonna talk about yesterday? About how I ended up with keys to one of Sunset Curve’s cars and you disappeared for hours only to end up in a photo with Luke Patterson of all people?”

She froze. It was hard to breathe all of a sudden, and Julie screwed her eyes shut, willing herself not to start crying again.

“I don’t owe you an explanation,” she said through clenched teeth, turning around to face Carrie. “Besides, didn’t you get your wish? You got to drive a Sunset Curve car, and see the Sunset Curve mansion, and--”

“What’s gotten into you?” Carrie interrupted, pushing off the counter. “You know, I was actually worried about you for a moment yesterday.”

“Since when do you care?” Julie retorted, wrapping her arms around herself. “You never have.”

“I care plenty,” Carrie replied, checking her nails. Julie didn’t miss the way her voice softened, though, the way the other girl stole a glance at her when she thought Julie wasn’t looking.

Carrie’s phone buzzed, and she pulled it out of her pocket. A curious look passed over her face and she tapped away at her phone. Julie couldn’t help but lean closer.

“What?”

“Luke Patterson is about to go live on Insta,” Carrie said, holding her phone up. “And he’s apparently going to be talking about you.”

A dark cloud of dread descended over Julie. “Give me that!” she exclaimed, reaching for Carrie’s phone. The other girl let out a cry of protest, clutching it close to her, but Julie grabbed for it. They wrestled over the device for a few short moments before Julie let out a triumphant laugh, spinning away and tapping on the little bubble with Luke’s profile picture while Carrie leaned over her shoulder.

He appeared on the screen, lounging back on a couch, a guitar in hand, playing random melodies. Julie’s eyes were drawn to his bare arms, her mind conjuring the memory of him splashing her in the pond. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the thought away, until he started to speak.

“Hey, everyone! Luke here.” Julie watched the screen intently. “I know I’ve been a little quiet the past couple of days, but things have been a little crazy. I just wanted to pop in to clear up some things, and also let you know that I’ve been working on something pretty cool.” He sat up straight, setting the guitar to the side, and leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “I really hate having to do this, but last night some pictures surfaced, and there’s a lot of assumptions being made.”

Carrie drew in a breath beside Julie. “You don’t think--”

Julie shushed her, staring down at his face as he let out a sigh.

“The truth of the matter is, those photos? They’re not real. I have no idea who that girl is. I woke up this morning to a bunch of notifications asking me about this Julie Molina, but honestly, I’ve never met a Julie in my life. If she thinks she met me yesterday, then I’m sorry to her. I’ve been at the mansion this whole time, so whoever that guy is, he’s a good lookalike, I guess.” He spread his arms out to either side. “Sorry to disappoint, but there’s really nothing more to the story.”

Julie didn’t realize she was crying until Carrie asked her if she was okay. She shook her head, shoving the phone into Carrie’s hand and running back up the stairs to her room, slamming the door.

It was over. Luke really was pretending that their day never happened. She wasn’t sure if she had ever felt so betrayed, so cast aside like she was a rag doll. Really, Julie should have expected it. He was a stubborn, egotistical jerk of a rock star. It was in his DNA.

Except it wasn’t. Julie had a whole day of proof to the contrary. Luke had been so kind to her, so caring, so  _ funny _ . She had genuinely been enjoying herself, at least until he had screwed it all up. She  _ knew _ things about him, things she was sure no one else knew (except maybe for Reggie and Alex).

Betrayed. That’s how she felt. There was no better word for it.

An hour later, Victoria knocked. “Mija, your teacher and the rest of the girls are here! It’s time to go! Are you ready?”

Julie started, lifting her head from her pillow. Her face fell. The competition. She had been dreading this moment.

“Coming!” she called, going to the closet and pulling out a garment bag with the outfit she had chosen for her performance a week ago with Flynn’s help.

When she was ready, Julie drew in a deep breath and opened the door, offering her aunt a forced smile.

“Oh, mija, your mother would be so proud of you,” Victoria gushed, leading her down the stairs. Julie was just glad her aunt couldn’t see her pained expression. “You’re going to be amazing, and it’ll be so good for your career!”

“Right,” Julie murmured, meeting Carrie’s eye across the room. “Let’s just go.”

“Mrs Harrison’s just around the corner with the rest of the girls,” Carrie explained, looking for all the world like she was bored.

When the girls arrived, Carrie immediately went to them and started waxing poetics about whatever it was Dirti Candy talked about while Mrs Harrison stepped over to Julie.

“How are you feeling?” she asked, looking down at Julie in concern.

“I’ll make it,” Julie replied, steeling her nerves.

In the end, Julie and Carrie wouldn’t fit in the vehicle Mrs Harrison had rented, and Carrie had put up such a fuss about missing her other friends that Julie found herself in a car with Kayla and her aunt. After a few minutes, Julie turned to Kayla, who was staring at her.

“What?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

Kayla was eerily still. “What was he like?”

“Who?”

“Luke, of course. Was he dreamy? What do his eyes look like up close?” Kayla leaned in, as if Julie was about to tell her some deep, dark secret.

Julie was too caught off guard and spoke before thinking. “Gorgeous. Er. Hazel.”

Kayla laughed. “I know they’re hazel, silly. I’ve seen, like, every picture. Is he an absolute gentleman?”

“I don’t know what you want from me. Didn’t you see the live? It wasn’t him,” Julie blurted out, turning and staring out the window moodily.

The only problem was, it reminded her of being in the car with Luke. Luke the jerk.

Thankfully, they reached the Orpheum and Kayla ran over to be with the rest of the girls and Carrie. Julie trailed behind, confused when Carrie sent the girls in ahead of her and stood, kicking at the ground, waiting for Julie to catch up.

“Sunset Curve just announced they’re playing here today,” she said, pretending to check her nails. “Thought you’d wanna know.”

Julie swallowed, wrapping her arms around herself. “Why would I want to know about that?” she asked, walking past Carrie before the other girl could see the tears threatening to spill in her eyes.

They were ushered straight to their dressing room when they got in and Julie finally got a moment to herself, tucked around the corner while Carrie was lecturing the girls about the performance. She changed into her performance outfit, a short, poofy purple dress with a cropped leather jacket over it.

From there, they were led to a section of the audience reserved for the performers for the opening ceremonies. Julie barely heard the man up on stage droning on and on about traditions and the power of music, instead tapping away at her phone, texting Flynn.

“And now, without further ado, the band that got their start right here on this stage, Sunset Curve!”

Julie froze. She glanced up from her phone, watching the three boys come bounding out on stage. Her eyes were instantly drawn to Luke, dressed in a white tank top and black pants. His hair was tousled, and he was beaming, gazing out at the crowd.

When the drummer counted them in, they began playing a song Julie was sorry to say she now knew very well. If Luke had been interesting to watch perform acoustic at the mansion, he was downright fascinating to watch during an actual show. Julie’s eyes were fixed on him, his fingers flying on the neck of his guitar, his face up against the mic.

It was exhilarating.

Julie almost forgot why she had ever disliked Sunset Curve. They clearly loved what they were doing, as she dragged her eyes away from Luke to watch first Reggie, then Alex. They played off each other, and the crowd ate it up.

As she focused back on Luke, though, the memories came flooding back and Julie rose from her seat, slipping out past the row of screaming fans and heading outside. It was easier to breathe once she was out in the fresh air, even if she could still hear the band performing.

It wasn’t fair. Luke had broken her heart and then denied ever knowing her, and yet he was the one who was happily performing as if nothing had changed. As if he didn’t care about what he had done. She thought about the carefree look on his face as he sang, about how he had said it was all about the music and making fans happy.

“You didn’t make me happy,” she mumbled, leaning against the outside wall of the Orpheum. The brick wall was cool against her back. After a moment, she sighed. “Then again, I wasn’t a fan.”

She slid back inside just as Sunset Curve was finishing their song, waving to the crowd before disappearing off stage.

It was all business after that.

Dirti Candy was third to perform, and Carrie captivated the room with “All Eyes On Me”. At least, Julie was sure that was what happened. She was texting Flynn the entire time.

A few acts later, Julie was being ushered to the wings. She twisted her hands together, not sure if she was ready. Music had always been her thing with her mother, and now… she didn’t know if she could do it. Singing with Luke in the car had been different. This was… this was bigger. Had higher stakes.

“And next up, we have… Julie Molina, from Kalamazoo, Michigan!”

There was a round of polite applause, but Julie was frozen in place in the wings, staring at the piano sitting on stage. The emcee glanced over, gesturing for her to come out on stage, and Mrs Harrison put a hand on Julie’s shoulder.

“You’re ready,” she said, giving her a gentle push.

Julie squeezed her eyes shut.

“I’m not.”

She turned to walk away, deaf to Mrs Harrison’s protests. At the end of the hall, though, there was an open door. Through it, she could see the back of a boy wearing a beanie, watching a screen in the corner. As if in slow motion, she watched as he turned around, looking straight down the hall. At her.

Time moved slowly as Luke locked eyes with her. Julie let out a breath, swallowing a lump in her throat. He didn’t do anything; he just stood there, watching her.

_ “Look, I know I don’t know you but… if I’ve learned anything, I know you’re determined. Scarily so.” _

She could hear his words in her mind, as clearly as though he had just said them out loud. Across from her, his lips turned up at the corners and he nodded at her. Julie breathed in sharply, then turned away. She marched back to the edge of the stage, glancing up at her teacher.

“I’m ready.”

She didn’t think Mrs Harrison could have looked more proud as Julie stepped out on stage and sat at the piano. The moment she played the first few notes, she was lost in the music, singing the song her mother had left for her. It was as if the audience wasn’t there. It was just her and the piano, and her voice soaring through the air.

As she finished the song, she stole a glance sideways at the wing. She thought she noticed movement behind the curtain, but when she blinked, it was gone. The audience burst into applause, and Julie rose to her feet, bowing. When she went off stage, Mrs Harrison was beaming.

“You were incredible,” she told her. Julie glanced off down the hall, towards the now-closed door.

“Thank you.”

A group from New York won the competition. Julie shrugged it off, but Carrie was insufferable the entire evening, even as they stopped to pick up their things from Victoria’s house before heading back to the hotel.

“I just don’t get why we didn’t win! We were clearly the best out there,” Carrie ranted to the girls over video chat while Julie lay on her bed in the hotel room, staring up at the ceiling, listening to her music. After a couple of songs, she sat up, tapping through the app and bringing up “Bright” by Sunset Curve and letting it play.

When Carrie finally hung up, she cleared her throat and Julie glanced up, taking out one of her Airpods.

“I just wanted to say… you were really good today,” she said, offering Julie a small smile.

Julie was positive the apocalypse was coming. “Um… thanks…” she said, biting the inside of her cheek. “You were, too.”

Carrie nodded. “Okay. So when we get back tomorrow, you don’t exist to me anymore. Our little adventures didn’t happen.”

Julie only shrugged, rolling on her side. “Goodnight, Carrie.”

= = = = =

Luke didn’t sleep at all that night.

He couldn’t stop thinking about it. About the moment in the hall with Julie. He knew he should have said something, anything, to encourage her, but he just couldn’t.

After all, for all intents and purposes, he didn’t know her.

He should have though. He knew that she had been worried about it. About performing. But then she had gone out on stage on her own and Luke had gone to the curtains, watching as she sang her heart out.

She could really sing. He had known from the car, but seeing her perform was a whole other story. The sheer power in her voice had been breathtaking, and to see her pour her heart out on the stage, knowing what she had gone through, knowing how hard it had been for her… Luke had absolutely no doubt that Julie Molina would be a star some day.

If only he hadn’t been such an idiot.

(He couldn’t deny that she had even  _ looked _ stunning in her performance outfit.)

He thought about her singing the entire ride back to the mansion, ignoring the jokes the boys made at his expense as he ranted about how unfair it was that she hadn’t won the competition. He thought about her while they had celebratory nachos. He thought about her when he retreated to his room, lying across his bed.

He was still thinking about her in the morning when he turned over and picked up his phone, reading the texts from Trevor.

**_Trev:_ ** _ Caleb wants to meet with you. 10am. Studio. I’ve sent the boys out for the morning. Don’t have a read on him. _

**_Trev:_ ** _ So look presentable! SLEEVES. _

Luke scoffed, glancing at the clock first (9:30am), then going to his closet. Sleeves were overrated, in his opinion. But if it was that important to Trevor, he supposed he would wear them, just this once. He tugged on an old henley and some jeans before making his way down to the studio, swiping a muffin and some orange juice from the kitchen on his way. Caleb was there, perched on a stool, his hands folded in his lap, while Trevor was standing off to the side.

“Mr Covington,” Luke said, forcing a smile.

“Didn’t I tell you before that you could call me Caleb?” the director said, tilting his head.

“Er, right. Look, about the other day--”

“My people are impressed with you,” Caleb interrupted, a cold grin on his face. Luke shifted uncomfortably. “And they’ve advised me that they’re willing to move forward with you in the leading role.”

Luke’s jaw dropped. “Wait, what? Really? But I… the articles…” He continued stammering, glancing over at Trevor who was beaming back at him.

“Those silly things? You handled yourself nicely the next morning. You squashed the rumours. A sign of a real professional. I’d like to invite you to set this afternoon, so you can get comfortable, and you’ll get your filming schedule then.”

Luke blinked, shaking his head. “No way…”

“And really, kid…” Caleb was suddenly standing in front of him, and Luke had to tilt his head up to meet his gaze. “I couldn’t be more happy to call you my leading man. You’ve got the talent, and the drive,” he said, patting Luke on the shoulder. His hand was heavy, though, and Luke couldn’t help the chill that ran through him.

“And we’ll be able to work the film schedule around the tour, right?” he asked, glancing sideways at Trevor.

Caleb followed his gaze, then looked back at him. “I’m sure we can work something out.”

Luke nodded, letting out a breath as Caleb turned, shaking hands with Trevor, who had a curious look on his face, as if he were constipated. He knew that look. It was the way Trevor looked when his nerves were at their height. Dr. Crystal was going to get his money’s worth, Luke was sure.

As Caleb swept out of the room, Trevor waited until the door was closed before sinking down onto the couch.

“You did it, kid!”

Luke forced a bark of laughter, knowing Trevor was expecting him to be happy. “I did, didn’t I?” Then again, as much as he was conflicted about the whole thing, as much as Caleb intimidated him, it  _ was _ an excellent opportunity for him. He just wished it had come at a better time. A time when he wasn’t dealing with the aftermath of meeting a girl like Julie and wrecking it within a day.

Trevor was watching him, and Luke plastered a grin on his face. “A movie deal! Oh, man, Alex and Reggie are gonna--”

“Gonna what?”

Luke whirled around. Alex was standing there, leaning against the door frame, his expression frosty. He hadn’t heard his friend come in.

“Alex…”

“A movie deal, huh?” Alex pushed off the frame, his expression stony. “So that’s why Caleb Covington has been lurking around the mansion the past couple of days? Since when was that a thing?”

Luke swallowed, shifting his weight from side to side, glancing back at Trevor. “Well, you see…”

“I thought we told each other everything. No secrets, right?”

“I was going to tell you! I just… I needed to keep it on the down low for a few days.” Luke’s fingers itched to hold something and he crossed the floor, grabbing his guitar. “I had to avoid the paparazzi, and Caleb… he didn’t want me to say anything.”

He didn’t notice Trevor slip out, but he did notice the way the room fell absolutely silent, as if all the soundwaves were being swallowed by a black hole, the same black hole that was threatening to swallow Luke as he took in the betrayal written plainly on Alex’s face. To fill the silence, he absently plucked at his guitar, an old melody he kept close to his heart.

“So what, you’re leaving the band now?”

The question cut Luke to the core, so much so that he played a wrong note and cringed. He stared back at Alex in disbelief.

“No, of course not! I can do both.”

“Right,” Alex replied, scoffing. “Because you’re so good at multitasking. I should have known, honestly. Trevor always treated you better anyway.”

Luke shook his head. “That’s not fair, or true,” he said, his voice raising in volume.

Alex turned and left the studio without another word, leaving Luke standing in the middle of the room, staring at the door.

Crap.

He didn’t see Alex or Reggie the rest of the morning. When the time came for him to go to Caleb’s set, he slipped out alone, driving over.

Once he arrived, Luke wasn’t sure where to go at first. There were people and cameras everywhere, but as he stood peering through the crowd, he finally saw Caleb’s telltale purple suit jacket and walked towards him. When he was only a few feet away, he could hear some of the conversation between the director and presumably someone else on crew.

“I still can’t believe you made him run around and avoid the paparazzi like that. I thought the role was always going to the kid?”

Caleb laughed. “We need people who are loyal to the project, and Luke’s heart is pulled a million different ways. I just wanted to make sure he knew where he needed to align himself. Really, I wanted to see how far he’d go.”

Luke’s blood boiled. He cleared his throat. “Mr Covington?”

Caleb turned. “Luke! Welcome to set! Are you ready to get started?”

Now or never. Luke swallowed. “No.”

For the first time since he had met the director, Caleb’s facade slipped and he looked startled for the briefest of moments before fixing an inquisitive look on his face.

“No?”

He nodded, feeling more confident by the second. “No. I don’t think I can offer the commitment you’re looking for. I’m already loyal to my band, and I don’t want to sacrifice my own integrity for this.” Luke met Caleb’s increasingly stormy gaze, steeling his nerves. “I quit.”

The director let out a breath, folding his arms in front of him. “You’re making a mistake,” he said, coolly.

“No, I really don’t think I am.” With that, Luke turned around and went back to his car. He’d deal with the fallout from Trevor later. For now, he needed to clear the air with the people he really cared about.

Back at the mansion, he made a beeline for the studio. As he suspected, both of his bandmates were there. Alex was pacing back and forth, twisting his hands together, and Reggie was sitting hunched over at the keyboard, pressing one note over and over again. They both glanced over when the door opened, and while Alex went back to pacing, Reggie sighed and went back to pressing the note repeatedly. Luke made his decision and walked over to the keyboard.

“Reggie.”

No answer.

“Reginald.”

No answer.

“Reg.”

“What?” Reggie pressed his forearm across multiple keys as he snapped it, turning to stare at Luke. “Did you have fun at your stupid movie set?”

“I’m sorry.” He directed it at both of them, even though Alex was still pointedly ignoring him.

“Why didn’t you tell us?”

Luke swallowed. “I let Caleb get under my skin. He’s a creep. And a liar.”

Reggie frowned, and Luke told him the whole story, starting from the audition and ending with him quitting.

“Well, we know who’s blacklisted from Hollywood filmmaking now,” Reggie joked, rising to his feet. Luke’s fingers itched and he was rewarded by his friend stepping over to him and hugging him close. “I’m sorry Caleb’s such a dickwad. Ooh, maybe we should send him a glitterbomb!”

Alex had stopped pacing and was sitting on the sofa, listening to Luke tell the story, his expression unreadable. He snorted at Reggie’s comment, and Luke glanced over at him, mid-chuckle himself. He sobered quickly, though, nodding to his friend.

“‘Lex.”

“Luke.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know.”

“I know we were all on edge when Bobby left,” Luke said, choosing his words carefully. “His family needed him, though, and he knows he’s always welcome back. This was different. I never should have considered Caleb’s offer.”

“It was Caleb Covington, though,” Alex replied. “I don’t blame you for going for it.”

“Still, though.”

“I overreacted, dude. I should have been happy for you.”

“Come on,” Luke said, leaving Reggie and walking over to Alex. “Let’s just… agree to move past this. I quit, I’m not doing the movie, and we have a kickass tour coming up.”

Alex grinned, patting Luke’s arm. That wasn’t enough for him, though, and Luke pulled him into a hug. Reggie joined them, and they stood for a moment, together.

“I’ll talk to Trevor, too,” Luke added as he took a step back, bumping elbows with each of them. “Make it clear that we’re a package deal. All or none. No matter what opportunities come up.”

Alex and Reggie grinned, just as the door opened. Luke flinched, expecting Trevor, but Willie stepped through the door. He eyed the three of them, clearly trying to read the room.

“We’re good,” Alex said, walking over to him and leaning in, kissing his boyfriend briefly. “We cleared it up.”

“Oh, good,” Willie replied, linking his fingers with Alex. “I was ready to fight on your behalf.”

While Alex chuckled, Luke shook his head, grinning. “I don’t doubt that. Thanks for checking in on us, Willie.”

“Of course,” Willie said, nodding and stepping over to fistbump Luke. “Although you might want to avoid the main house for a bit. Trevor was shouting at his phone.”

Luke cringed. “Yeah… he’s probably gonna be angry for a while.”

“We could always just hide in here and try out some new music. You were playing something earlier,” Alex said, going to the drumkit. “It sounded nice.”

“I didn’t think you were listening,” Luke said, arching an eyebrow.

The drummer shrugged. “I pay attention, even when I’m pissed off.”

“And he was really pissed off,” Willie chimed in, laying across the couch. “I almost suggested going to that old abandoned museum again, just so he could scream.”

Alex’s voice went high-pitched. “Well… I wasn’t that mad,” he said, grimacing.

Luke and Reggie laughed. “Sure, man,” Luke said, picking up his guitar while Reggie grabbed the bass. “Anyway, that song. I’ve been tinkering with it forever. Started after I left home.”

His friends went quiet, and even Willie stopped in the middle of playing with a spare set of Alex’s drumsticks.

“It’s about my mom,” Luke added, strumming a few chords and checking the tuning before starting to play. He sang a couple of lines, then stopped.

“That was nice,” Reggie said, playing a few notes. “What if I…”

Luke nodded. “Yeah, that’d be good.”

“And then I could just…” Alex demonstrated a beat, and Luke smiled.

They started to play together, and Luke couldn’t help but think that the words he was singing applied not only to his mother, but also to Julie. About the things he hadn’t said to her, the things he hadn’t said properly.

He stopped abruptly. “Have you guys ever been to Michigan?”

= = = = =

When their flight landed, Julie followed Mrs Harrison and the girls through the airport. She felt like she was in a daze, still processing the events of the past couple of days, ready to just go home and crawl into her own bed and try to forget she had ever met Luke. As they collected their luggage and headed outside, she had only a moment of warning before they were surrounded by people and the flashes of cameras, bright white in her eyes.

“Julie! Julie Molina! Is it true you spent a day with Luke Patterson in Hollywood?”

“Julie! What are your thoughts on Luke Patterson turning down a Caleb Covington movie deal?”

The questions continued, and Mrs Harrison was yelling at the paparazzi and reporters. Julie was stunned into silence, her eyes wide, wanting to melt into the concrete. Of course, Carrie was eating it up, posing with the rest of Dirti Candy for the cameras, at least until her parents managed to fight their way through the crowd and pull her away. When Julie saw the familiar face of her father forcing himself through to her, she nearly cried with relief, reaching out and grabbing his arm.

“Dad!” she cried out, stepping behind him and holding on as he pushed back through the crowd, leading her to the car.

As soon as the doors were closed and locked, and her father was driving away, he turned to her.

“What happened out there, mija?”

Julie glanced in the rearview mirror, spying Carlos watching her with wide eyes.

“I can’t talk about it,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself. “They’ll get over it, I’m sure.”

“They were camped outside our house this morning,” Carlos piped up, before their father shushed him. “What, they were!”

Julie dropped her face into her hands and let out a strangled, exasperated sigh. “How did they even figure out where we live?” she asked, her voice coming out muffled.

“I don’t know, but if they’re still there tonight, I’m calling the police,” her father said. His tone caught her attention. It was sharp, determined. Scary, almost.

Julie definitely didn’t envy the reporters.

“By the way,” he added, glancing sideways at her, “Victoria sent a video of your performance. You were simply amazing, mija. I was the proudest father in the world watching you take over the stage like that.”

Julie flushed. “I didn’t win the competition.”

“I know that, but you did something better. You performed. You put yourself out there. There’s people who will remember your name if you decide that’s what you want to do for a living,” her father said, his thumbs drumming on the wheel in a way that harshly reminded Julie of Luke. “Your mother was smiling down on you.”

“I liked the part where you stopped playing the piano for a moment,” Carlos said, looking up from his Switch. “Your voice is really nice.”

“Thanks,” Julie said over her shoulder before turning back to her father with tears in her eyes. “You really think she was watching?”

“I know she was,” he replied, smiling warmly at her.

Julie blinked rapidly, turning to stare out the window, and was silent the rest of the way home.

When they arrived, thankfully there were no paparazzi at the house. After they ate dinner, she politely excused herself to her room to start unpacking.

Something kept weighing on her. One of the questions that had been screamed her way outside the airport kept worming itself into her thoughts.

“He didn’t take the movie deal?” she murmured to herself, pulling out the dress she had worn at the Orpheum and hanging it up. It would need to be dry cleaned eventually. Next, she pulled out Luke’s sunglasses, turning them over between her fingertips.

“Mija, Flynn’s here!” her father called. Julie had only a moment to prepare herself before the door flew open and a red blur jumped on her. Flynn clung to her, squeezing her into a tight hug, practically vibrating on the spot.

“I’m so proud of you!” she chirped, pulling away. “I knew you could do it.”

Julie smiled. “It was… it was incredible! Singing on that stage, staring out at the audience… I could feel my mom,” she added, shyly.

Flynn nodded, rubbing Julie’s elbow. “I know how much it meant to you.”

They shared the moment, smiling at each other, and Julie leaned forward, pressing her forehead against Flynn’s. “I missed you, though.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you did,” Flynn quipped, sitting on the edge of Julie’s bed and gesturing for her to follow. “Hanging out with the demon spawn must have been rough.”

“It wasn’t so bad,” Julie murmured, thinking back to Carrie’s almost sincerity after the whole mess.

Flynn arched an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me she’s possessed you too?”

“God, no,” Julie replied, laughing. “There isn’t anything in the world that could pull me away from you.”

She took Flynn’s hand, squeezing it.

“Soooo… about Luke…?” Flynn sounded uncharacteristically hesitant.

Julie couldn’t take it anymore. Couldn’t handle the lies, couldn’t handle the secrets. She started talking, spilling the entire story from Carrie hijacking her time with her aunt, to being knocked out and taken to the hospital, to being held captive at the mansion. She told her about the beach, about running around Hollywood, about getting to know him. She told Flynn about the arguments, about how unbearably annoying he could be, even with those dreamy hazel eyes and those sharply toned arms that had been hidden under a cardigan most of the day. Flynn listened carefully, as Julie told her about the pond, about the connection they had felt. About the beach. About the almost-kiss. About Luke ruining everything. About the competition.

Flynn’s jaw dropped when Julie told her about the aftermath. “You’re kidding me.”

Julie shook her head. “But something about seeing him… it gave me the boost I needed to get out there and perform.”

“Girl… you’re smitten,” Flynn said, arching an eyebrow.

Julie groaned. “I know I am… which makes all of this just so much worse! He clearly doesn’t have any interest in having any sort of relationship with me, and he just…” She let out a frustrated cry and Flynn rubbed her back.

“I have good news, though. Remember Nick? Rumour has it he’s back in town,” her friend said, smirking. “Maybe he’s the distraction you need.”

Julie flushed. “I actually saw him in Hollywood, and we chatted. A bit.”

Flynn’s grin could best be described as that of the Cheshire Cat. “What a fantastic coincidence!”

The next morning arrived, and Julie’s father fought his way through the sea of reporters camped outside the house to get Julie and Carlos to the car so he could take them to school.

“We have to do something about them,” her father said, and Julie nodded.

“They’ll get tired eventually.”

She walked into the school, noting almost immediately that all eyes were on her, and everyone was whispering about her and the gossip surrounding her. Students parted as she walked down the hall, and to Julie’s relief, Carrie kept her distance, her arms folded in front of her. She rounded a corner, and Nick was standing there, leaning against a wall.

“Oh, hey Julie,” he said, pushing off the wall. “Nice to see you again.”

“Likewise,” Julie replied, offering a small smile. “You didn’t say you were coming back to Michigan.”

“We didn’t really have time when we saw each other,” he said, shrugging. “You were…”

“Right.” Julie grabbed her elbow with her opposite hand, staring down at the floor.

“You were amazing at the competition, by the way. I’m sorry about… you know…”

Julie frowned. “What do you mean?”

Nick kicked at the ground. “I, er… I kind of met Sunset Curve a couple of days ago, and then, when I heard about… you know…”

“Oh.” Julie wanted to melt for the second time in two days.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I just want to, you know, put everything behind me. Move on. And stuff.”

Nick smiled. “Well, you know where to find me.”

Carrie came around the corner, her eyes lighting up. “Nick! I didn’t know you were coming back!” She pushed past Julie, taking Nick by the arm and walking away with him. He glanced back over his shoulder, grinning at her. Julie waved in return, thinking it was highly unlikely she would see much of him now that Carrie knew he was there.

Flynn found her and they went to class together. After school, as they were leaving, they passed by a booth where Carrie and Kayla were selling tickets for the school dance.

“What do you think?” Flynn asked Julie as they paused next to the booth.

She shrugged. “And give people a chance to stare at me? No thanks.”

“And besides,” Carrie piped up, levelling a stare at the two of them. “You’re not invited.”

“What do you mean not invited?” Flynn burst out, scoffing. “It’s a school dance, for everyone. And besides, I DJ every dance.”

Carrie tossed her hair back over her shoulders. “Not this one. Dirti Candy is performing, and we don’t need you, so don’t even bother coming,” she chirped, glancing sideways at Julie.

“Demon,” Flynn grumbled as Julie pulled her away.

“It’s not worth it. Besides, I really didn’t want to go, anyway,” Julie whispered, turning and walking backwards a few paces. “Let Carrie have this. She’s still salty over the competition.”

“She already got Nick,” Flynn retorted, although she shrugged. “But you’re right. Why waste energy on a demon’s dance when we could have a Double Trouble night?”

Julie grinned. “That’s the spirit.” She turned back around, linking arms with Flynn as they left the school.

When Julie got home with her father, she was met with yet another sea of reporters, aching for some sort of comment from her. She fought her way through with her father’s help, but at the door, one reporter’s question rang louder than the others.

“Julie, can you tell us who you think the real Luke Patterson is?”

Did she know? She wanted to believe she did. Julie remembered him telling her about how exhausting his life was, remembered him saying he liked being at the pond because he could just be himself. But who was he, really?

She turned, ignoring her father’s warning hand on her arm. “You know what? Luke said it would get crazy, like this. Celebrities might have to put up with it, but I don’t. You really want to know who the real Luke Patterson is?” The reporter nodded, beaming at her question being the one Julie chose to answer. Julie sighed, steeling her nerves. “The real Luke Patterson doesn’t exist. You’ve all made him out to be some big story, to be a character for you to tug around every which way, instead of the normal person he could have been. Luke Patterson is the result of years of people like you building him up into this big celebrity and then ripping into him and searching for cracks that you can exploit to tear him down. He tries so hard to keep his fans happy, and then he has to lie to keep his rock star status. Don’t you know what that does to someone? Having to lie, all the time? Having to hide who they are?”

She paused. The reporters had fallen silent, and each and every one of them had their mics out and pointed at her. Julie rolled her eyes.

“I’m sure you don’t. But all of that, that’s on you. All of you. Luke is just one example. Talented, brilliant, successful, kind… but he’s had to give up some of the best things in life all because of you. Things like freedom and privacy. Things that no one should have to live without.” She was crying, now, fighting to keep going. “Congratulations, you may have created your perfect celebrity, but you’ve destroyed the decent man inside. The Luke Patterson you’re all so obsessed with? I can promise you, I never met him, and I wouldn’t want to.”

With that, she turned on her heels and marched through the door, leaving the reporters scrambling.

“Did you get that?” one of them was asking their cameraman.

Julie scoffed, slamming the door.

“Mija?” her father asked. She shook her head, running up to her room.

She opened Instagram, scrolling through. On a whim, she searched Luke’s profile and scrolled through his posts. She found one from earlier in the day, of a guitar case and some sheet music. It was captioned “Working on some new music”. Julie smiled, despite everything. He was focusing on music, just like he had said he wanted to.

Mercifully, the reporters were gone, having gotten the story they were looking for. Julie made her way to school and went to her locker.

“Hey!” Flynn chirped behind her. Julie didn’t turn, instead staring at something sitting on the shelf. “Earth to Julie.”

Wordlessly, Julie picked up the three slips of paper and showed Flynn. There were two tickets for the school dance, and a third note.

“Don’t tell anyone it was me. C,” Flynn read. “Is this… are we being Punk’d?”

Julie shrugged. “I don’t know, but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to go, especially now that the reporters are gone.”

“You sure it’s not a prank?”

“Honestly… I think Carrie might actually have a heart buried somewhere in there,” Julie said.

“Alright! You should come over and we can decide what we’re wearing together! And if it turns out to be a prank, we’ll just own the night anyway!” Flynn chirped, linking arms with Julie. She grinned, following her best friend down the hall, chatting away.

When evening came, Julie donned a cute purple dress Flynn loaned her. They went back to the school together, and their tickets were accepted at the door with no problem.

“Well, here we are,” Flynn said, gesturing around the gymnasium. It was surprisingly well decorated in the school’s colours, and the room was packed. Dirti Candy was performing on the stage, some high energy song, but Julie and Flynn ignored it in favour of finding a spot to dance together, ignoring the eyes following her and the whispers.

“This is surprisingly fun,” Julie commented, once Carrie and her girls were off the stage.

“Yeah, but the DJ they got sucks. I could do so much better!” Flynn moaned.

“But then you wouldn’t be down here having fun with me.”

“Fair,” Flynn surrendered, holding her hands up. “So, how are you feeling? Haven’t been online, have you?”

“You know, I’m actually good. I read a couple of the articles--”

“Julie!”

“--and I’m not letting them bother me,” Julie said, pushing her hair behind her ears. “What’s done is done.”

As she said that, the lights went out in the gymnasium. There was a chorus of screams and shouts, and then a spotlight popped on the stage. More screams filled the air and Julie’s jaw dropped nearly to the floor.

Luke was waving from the stage, dressed in his signature sleeveless top and jeans. He was holding his guitar, and behind him, Reggie and Alex were walking on, beaming at the crowd.

“Julie Molina?” Luke asked, leaning in towards the mic.

Someone could have dropped a pin in the packed gym and everyone would have heard it. Everyone except Julie. Her ears were rushing, her heart pounding, nearly beating out of her chest. Flynn reached for her hand, squeezing it, before Julie took a shaking step forward, then another one.

He was there. Luke was in Kalamazoo. Standing in front of her. She felt like she was walking on air as she continued walking forward. The crowd parted like the Red Sea in front of her, leaving a clear path forward to him.

Luke took the mic, climbing down off the stage and meeting her in the middle of the dance floor.

“Hey.”

“Hi,” she said, folding her arms in front of her. “What are you doing here?”

“There’s some things I forgot to say to you back in Hollywood,” Luke replied, taking her hand and pulling her towards the stage. In a daze, Julie stood beside the stage, next to Luke, watching Reggie lower the mic stand to him. He put the mic back on and nodded to his bandmates, and they began to play.

“Step into my world… bitter sweet love story ‘bout a girl…”

He sang directly to her the entire song, staying close, and Julie had to fight to keep her emotions in check. His eyes were so clear, so genuine, and she couldn’t tear away her gaze. When his voice cracked in the chorus, Julie let out a breath, blinking rapidly. It was like his singing was unlocking the feelings she had only just managed to stuff in a box and put behind her, and she suddenly found it hard to breathe.

The song faded away, and there was a low buzz in the crowd, but Julie only had eyes for Luke.

“Did you really think you could just come all the way out here and sing a song and everything would work out?” she asked after a moment, hating how her voice was shaking, hating how he made her feel.

“I… um… yes?” Julie arched an eyebrow, and he backpedalled. “No.”

“He totally did,” Reggie chimed in from the stage. Julie glanced up just in time to see Alex hit him on the chest with the back of his hand, then met Luke’s gaze again.

“Which is it?”

He sighed. “Julie… I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. You… you changed my entire outlook on everything, and I was… I was so wrong. About everything. About you.”

There was a low murmur in the crowd, and Julie glanced around, spying at least twenty cellphones recording.

“You’re live,” she warned Luke under her breath.

“I figured,” he replied, his eyes never leaving hers.

“Everyone thinks I lied about the whole thing,” Julie said, fiddling with a piece of hair. “So what are you doing here, Luke?

“Being honest,” Luke said, turning to face the crowd of cameras. “I’m the one who lied. I said I didn’t know her, but the truth is, I know Julie Molina. I know she’s a terrible navigator, and a control freak. She’s also wickedly beautiful, and has the voice of an angel, and when I’m around her, I feel like I can do anything. She’s honest, and she keeps her promises, and she’s the one person in the world who’s never asked me for a thing. She understands me like no one else does.”

Julie let out a shaky breath, watching him as he turned back to her.

“I’m so sorry, Julie, for everything. I never meant to hurt you, and I would give anything to take back what I said. You deserve the world. You deserve mountains being moved for you. And I… I’m crazy about you. So please… I promise right here, right now, that I will never do anything to hurt you again, if you’ll just… please… forgive me.”

All she could do was nod, a small smile on her face. “Of course, Luke,” she whispered, reaching across and setting her hand in his. He breathed in, interlacing their fingers, and stared down into her eyes, a bright smile stretching across his lips that revealed his dimples.

There was a chorus of “awwwww” from the crowd, and Luke glanced sideways. “You can turn those off now,” he said loudly, before reaching into his pocket with his free hand and pulling out the red bandana, folded carefully into a square. “I believe this is yours,” he said, giving it to her.

“Thank you,” she breathed, stepping closer to him. “I missed you,” she added, softly, so that no one could hear. She absently noticed that Reggie and Alex had started playing a Sunset Curve song, but only had eyes for Luke.

“You are… absolutely incredible, Julie,” he said, brushing her hair back. “And I’m sorry it took me this long to realize it.”

“Better late than never,” she said, moving closer to him, gazing up at him. “But you didn’t have to come all the way here.”

“Yeah, I did,” he replied, sliding his arms around Julie’s waist. “I wanted to ask you out in person.”

She giggled, slipping her arms around his neck as he swayed her to the beat of the music. “Really? And what makes you so confident I’ll say yes?”

Luke shrugged. “Because I’m Luke Patterson, and any girl would scream to go out with me.” Julie jokingly hit his shoulder, and he continued. “But since you’re the one girl who wouldn’t, you’re the only girl I’m interested in. So whadya say? Will you go on a real date with me?”

“Do either of us have to wear disguises?” she asked, arching an eyebrow. He chuckled, shaking his head. “Then yes. I’d love to,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder.

“Perfect,” Luke murmured, holding her close.

After a few moments, Julie raised her head. “Did you really write a song about us?”

“So what if I did?”

“Dork.”

“You like me.”

“You wish.”

Julie couldn’t help but laugh, smiling across at him. His expression was soft, and when he leaned forward, she met him halfway, pressing her lips to his. The entire world melted away in that moment, and Julie found she didn’t care that they would be on the cover of every gossip magazine. All that mattered was that he was there, with her, being his complete and total honest self, in front of a crowd, and she was happier than she had ever been.

= = = = =

**Four Months Later**

Julie tugged Flynn out on the dance floor, spinning her around. “Come on!” she exclaimed, poking her side. “It’s your birthday, lighten up!”

“How can I lighten up when Carrie keeps acting like a demon?” Flynn complained, glaring over at where Carrie was hanging off of Nick, laughing at something he was saying.

Julie groaned, putting both hands on either side of Flynn’s face. “Forget about Carrie for one day. I didn’t drag you all the way to Hollywood, to Under-21 for your birthday, just for you to mope. And besides, you still have your surprise to look forward to!”

Willie appeared as if out of nowhere, slinging his arms around Julie and Flynn’s shoulders. “Show time,” he murmured, winking at Julie.

She grinned, glancing across at her best friend. She had come up with the idea two months ago, and Luke had helped make it happen once he and the boys got back from their wildly successful tour. Now, it was Flynn’s birthday, and she was about to get the surprise of her life.

“Willie, would you keep Flynn company for a moment?” she asked.

“Wait… Julie, you’re not… you’re not leaving me?” Flynn blurted, glancing at Willie. “I mean, Willie’s cool and all, but…”

“Just for a moment,” Julie promised, exchanging another glance with Willie before slipping away through the crowd.

As she made her way to the stage, the lights in the club dimmed and a spotlight came up just as she made it to the centre and took a mic from Luke, nodding at Reggie to her right and Alex behind her.

“I just wanted to wish my best friend in the world a very happy birthday,” Julie announced, just as a spotlight shone on Flynn and Willie in the crowd. “I’m Julie Molina, this is Sunset Curve, and this is a song I wrote for you, Flynn.”

She went to the keyboard, starting to play.

“If I leave you on a bad note, leave you on a sad note, guess that means I’m buying lunch that day…”

The boys joined her, and during the second chorus, she went out into the audience, pulling a shocked yet proud Flynn up onto the stage with her, singing directly to her. It was the first time she had performed in front of Flynn since her mother had died, and she knew her friend would remember this for the rest of her life.

And as she glanced back at Luke, singing harmony with her, his gaze focused solely on her, her heart skipped a beat. He grinned when he caught her eye, winking at her, and Julie knew. In that moment, she knew she had been so wrong about him. Ever since the dance, he had been there for her, supported her as she continued to work on her music.

She couldn’t imagine life without him.

She sang the final line of the song to Flynn, holding her friend’s hand, listening to the crowd cheer. When the lights dimmed and the boys came to wish Flynn a happy birthday, Julie caught Luke’s eyes once again. The love and pride in his gaze threatened to make her heart explode.

And to think, she had once hated him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so so much for reading! Comments and kudos make my day!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos make my day <3


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